Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Leopardo nero, lupo rosso by Marlon James

146 reviews

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

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

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

elenaakers's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Violence

littlelynn's review against another edition

I got about 150 pages through this, then checked out some reviews to try and ascertain if the unpleasantness was ever going to let up and if the plot was ever going to begin, and picked up that while a plot does eventually introduce itself, the content continues on as unpalatable than ever. 

I do not typically put books down because of difficult content, however, the way it is framed and how unrelenting it is just left me feeling vaguely angry and nauseated without any emotional catharsis or payoff for enduring it on the horizon. Gory violence, sexual assault, child abuse, genitals and shit were mentioned every other page if not more frequently. It felt like the author wanted me to be constantly disgusted, and if so he was just far too successful. 

James is clearly a very talented writer, the prose - while difficult and somewhat inaccessible at first - is impressive. But I do think it smacks in places of literary authors not appreciating that genre is a different beast, and what makes excellent literary prose is fundamentally not the same as what makes excellent fantasy and genre prose. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, and Violence

e_asw_97's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? Yes

3.0

this book is a dazzling narrative full of rich imagination and prose. but at times, the pacing drags, and the action becomes dry and repetitive. these small complaints do not detract from the impact and the scope of the narrative, which is unlike anything I have ever read.

I took a full star off my rating, however, because I am disappointed to see how, even in this masterful upheaval of fantasy, women are still made to endlessly suffer, and to be the cause of the male characters' greatest suffering. few, if any, main characters are female, and those who are die quickly, or live only to serve the ends and purpose of the male characters. I want so badly for literature to move past this convention, this unending commitment to a misogynistic ideal, and to engage with it beyond a throwaway line from a supporting character asking the main character why he hates women so much. I could go on about the gratuitous and unsympathetic use of violence and rape in this book, and how the author wholeheartedly fails to resolve his own main character's virulent hatred of women, but to do so would echo decades of criticism of genre and literary fiction. I am simply disappointed that this book, which was lauded for flouting convention and being a "revolutionary" work, simply conformed to the worst parts of its genre. I had hoped for otherwise.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Grief, and War

marmybarmy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Incest

scribblesandsuch's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

This is very very good but also very intense. If you've only read Western stories it is a Big change of pace, the story telling of this is inherently and unapologetically Afro-Carribean. It's very gritty and gorey and sensory. Bear with it, it's worth reading

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Homophobia, and Suicide

tpriddick's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual violence

maimaireads's review against another edition

3.5

This is an incredible epic fantasy, but be warned it is also very grim and at times quite gruesome. There were moments when I wasn't sure I should keep going, because violence/sexual violence are described quite viscerally, and both occur pretty frequently throughout. They're not romanticized, by any means, but not shied away from, either. That said, the characters and rapidly evolving plot were engaging and fascinating, though at times I got a little lost. I listened to the audiobook, which probably increased some confusion just cause it's harder to double back and check if I'm remembering something correctly, and may also have made the gruesome scenes seem worse than if I had read the print version, but if that's the case it's only because the narrator did such an amazing job. He brought the characters, the scenes, the adventure, and the devastations that follow the characters through the story to vivid life.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence and Violence

romiress's review against another edition

This writing style is just 100% not for me. It has all the pretentious literary trappings: copious amounts of pointless sex and violence, a male protagonist obsessed with fucking, and an overwrought writing style that makes itself difficult on purpose.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Miscarriage, and Sexual violence