Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Leopardo nero, lupo rosso by Marlon James

42 reviews

kingcrookback's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

I'm fairly sure that people called this "the African Game of Thrones" for marketing purposes because they both occupy the epic fantasy space, but I think the comparison is apt for other reasons. Similar to how A Song of Ice and Fire is something of an examination and deconstruction of feudal fantasy and grapples with how myth, history, and subjective experiences tangle and interweave, Black Leopard, Red Wolf also tackles the interplay among truth, stories, and subjectivity. Admittedly, I initially found it difficult to detect and hook onto this theme, partially due to the book's graphicness as well as the fact that that's...simply how it goes with a lot of fantasy worlds. It took me about 100 pages to find my footing, and reading James' interview with the Boston Review was also very helpful (https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/representation-doesnt-just-mean-heroes-we-need-the-villains-as-well).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child abuse, Death, Torture, Body horror, Rape, Blood, Murder, Sexual violence, Gore, Cursing, and Child death

Moderate: Slavery, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Misogyny, Sexual content, War, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Mental illness, Grief, and Excrement

Minor: Drug use

nate_b's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

A truly brilliant story! The world-building of an alternative African magical reality is absolutely incredible. I will need to give this another listen, though it is so intense and violent I don't know when I'll be up for it. It's almost like the most graphic type of scenes from Law & Order: SVU all put together with terrifying descriptions of witchcraft blended with mysterious powers, destiny, loss, and a pervasive, bitter sense of betrayal.

It was hard to follow at times but well worth the effort and time. It's a long book but so exquisitely told!

The author does not shy away from extremely graphic depictions of the acts of his characters, including sexual assault, murder, and war crimes against children. I actually had to set it aside after the first time I tried listening to it until a time when I was more able to handle the violent opening scene and get into the fascinating characters beyond. Maybe next year I'll be up to listen to the sequel! I hope they get the same narrator. He did a phenomenal job! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Biphobia, Blood, Bullying, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Rape, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Colonisation, Murder, Cursing, Gore, Trafficking, War, Sexual violence, Child death, Drug use, Sexual content, Classism, Vomit, Domestic abuse, Torture, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Alcohol, and Animal death

oisinofthehill's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Confinement, Sexual content, Blood, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Cannibalism, Body horror, Gore, and Sexism

Moderate: Rape, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, and Sexual violence

t_thekla's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

3.5

last chapter slapped

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, Death of parent, Excrement, Homophobia, Incest, Murder, Physical abuse, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Vomit, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Violence, and War

lotsa bad stuff

aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

2.0

I don't think this one was for me. The cover, stunning. The content of the book, interesting in theory. The execution, was not for me. It felt too long and was a very slow read/listen. The narrator was great, but I could not keep my attention on the story to save the life of me. 
It's also pretty graphic so def look up content warnings. I won't be picking up the next one in this series even though the cover once again is stunning. I'll check something else out from this author to see if maybe it's just this book and not the author that I'm not enjoying because I've heard good things about some of his other work while this book seems pretty divisive.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual content

Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Colonisation, Alcoholism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Blood, Death, Sexual assault, and Torture

Minor: Misogyny and Excrement

softanimal's review against another edition

I love the rich imagery, imaginative storytelling, and lush world-building but the level of intensity is not where I'm at right now. Strong trigger warnings come with this one. The content warnings under "graphic" occur multiple times in each chapter.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Death, Toxic relationship, Child death, Violence, Body horror, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Murder, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Trafficking, and Misogyny

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, War, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Infertility, Vomit, Cursing, Excrement, Homophobia, Incest, and Sexual harassment

Nearly all of this book is graphic violence, rape, and child abuse.

A major plot is about finding abused children and there multiple graphic descriptions of rapes as well as ubiquitous references to sex, gore, sexual violence, and physical and sexual abuse of children.

cringeisen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Torture, Blood, Cannibalism, Body horror, Violence, Death, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Rape, Cursing, Pedophilia, Sexism, Misogyny, Drug use, and Incest

Minor: Slavery and Kidnapping

via_email's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Body horror, Cannibalism, Blood, Sexual content, and Rape

Minor: Child death, Cursing, Gore, and Death

rainstormdragon's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child abuse, Cursing, Sexual content, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Murder, Rape, and Pedophilia

schellbell's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing and Sexual content