Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

51 reviews

vouija's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Racism, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Death, and Emotional abuse

hopeadinfinitum's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

A difficult book that tears at your heart even as you can’t put it down. This book made me Feel Things with capital letters, angry and sad and hopeful and thoroughly gutted like a fish. There’s a lot of content warnings to take into account and they shouldn’t be taken lightly, but this book is so worth a read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Domestic abuse, Grief, Alcohol, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Rape, Racism, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Death, and Sexism

Moderate: Animal death, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Colonisation, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Murder

jcinf's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I should have read the content warnings before starting this, because I’m getting tired of reading about abuse toward women 🫠

That said, I did enjoy this book for the most part. 

I’ll have to dock some points for the audiobook tax — aka: the times I forget to pay attention and listen. So take my star rating with a grain of salt. 

I enjoyed reading about this time period and this particular historical event and culture. It’s something I knew nothing about, so I like that I got to be introduced to a new topic. 

I also didn’t realize this would be LGBTQ+ because I started listening to this book on Libby and didn’t start tracking on StoryGraph until a little later. So that was a pleasant surprise for me when I found out it was queer.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Body horror

Minor: Alcohol

klsreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

I picked this up on a whim to read alongside Caliban and the Witch, and I ended up loving it. The writing is an absolute feast - I felt I could touch the world and characters. +100 for a gorgeous exploration of Sapphic desire and love. 

This book is sad but the subjects are treated with immense tenderness. Will definitely be reading more of Kiran Millwood Hargrave.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Rape, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Blood, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Infertility, Pregnancy, and Vomit

Minor: Animal death and Colonisation

b_easelbub's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Torture, Racism, Sexual assault, and Racial slurs

Minor: Miscarriage

windspice's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Miscarriage, and Death

Moderate: Sexual content and Sexual assault

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Torture

flissrobyn's review against another edition

challenging reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

The writing is beautiful, but makes for an effort full read as it’s slow paced at the beginning. Really loved the plot, found it brought to mind a lot of feelings, with the plot being quite dark. Beautiful book to read and I enjoyed it, but not an easy read or a happy-endings style book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Violence, Sexual assault, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Miscarriage and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Death

karmachamillionaire's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Infertility, Blood, Sexism, Grief, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Death, and Racism

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Alcohol

sskinner155's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

An tense story at the start of the Norwegian witch trials of 1621. How hysteria, racism and petty grudges resulted in a small isolated village to be torn apart and how friendship and love both protected and condemned these women.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Murder, and Racism

malinhalia's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Death, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Racism, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Religious bigotry, Miscarriage, and Misogyny

Minor: Ableism, Domestic abuse, and Alcohol