Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert

9 reviews

joanna_banana's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

3.0

I had checked this out of the library several weeks before I started it. Then I got COVID! It was the perfect book to listen to while resting. I didn’t really like Vivian, though I thoroughly enjoyed the narration and was pleased to see that Blair Brown won an Audie for this. The pacing overall seemed a little off - deeply detailed in NYC for the first half or so and then kinda mixed pacing for the rest, you’d get into dialogue and heart wrenching details, and then zoom back out to narration to Angela. I enjoyed the last part, but again, it was odd to have something like 60 years of life covered so quickly. She also got into these monologues on topics like her sex life when she is older and I thought that was too much or could have been woven into the conversations better. And some characters just drop off! Becomes all about Vivian. Overall, I was entertained and the novel offers some thoughtful perspective on the expectations of young women in the 1940s and how that changed or did not change through the decades. I felt like Vivian was fairly self-aware by then end, but also still quite proud and vain in an annoyingly forced way. So, I guess it was just inconsistent for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Sexism, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, and War

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infidelity, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Antisemitism, Racial slurs, Biphobia, Sexual violence, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Pregnancy, Abortion, Car accident, and Mental illness

kalaser's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, War, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

Minor: Grief, Car accident, Sexual violence, and Death of parent

lindsaybethlyons's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism and War

Minor: Ableism and Sexual violence

rachc5's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

I loved everything about this book, except that it was a letter written to an almost irrelevant character. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Violence, Sexual content, War, and Sexual violence

betsygrace's review against another edition

Too much weird sexual content and sexual assault/rape vibes for me. It’s very normalized in the circle that the main character runs in, and I got tired of hearing it (listened on audiobook) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Alcohol, Rape, Violence, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

lotten4's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-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

4.5

I really liked the ambiance. (Also, good writing)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, War, Alcohol, Mental illness, Death of parent, Death, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, and Sexual violence

liahereonline's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Infidelity, and Sexual content

Moderate: Sexual violence, Terminal illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

kari_f's review against another edition

3.5

“I hope you’re having a good time... People will tell you not to waste your youth having too much fun, but they’re wrong. Youth is an irreplaceable treasure, and the only respectable thing to do with irreplaceable treasure is to waste it.”

The first half of City of Girls plays out according to this advice; we see the gritty, boozy, sensual, thrill-seeking lifestyles of the young and beautiful in 1940s NYC. Small blunders turn into bad habits, and it’s clear throughout that multiple characters are headed toward catastrophe. 

If the first half of the book is careening toward chaos, the second half is learning from mistakes and moving on. We see the maturation of a listless young woman who isn’t really sure of what she wants out of life.

With vivid sensory details, the reader can almost hear the theater music and feel the silky fabrics and see the vibrant colors of the stage costumes. Gilbert has a way with words, and this book is like her others, in that she engages the reader with her beautiful language. There were a few sections where (for me) the story felt slow, but the fluid and descriptive language kept me invested in the story despite any plot lags.

City of Girls includes many dichotomies: listlessness and purpose, debauchery and reckoning, lust and love, denial and rage, rationalized ignorance and reflective discovery. Gender-related stigmas are addressed head-on. In many cases, incidents and judgments are reflected upon through the lenses of age and experience, and the reader can see where  leaps in societal norms have occurred and where they haven’t.

This story doesn’t box itself into one genre, and it won’t appeal to everyone. In fact, I would wager that there’s at least one aspect of someone’s personality or character that will upset or even offend any given reader, and I think this is done intentionally. There are no perfect or polished people in this book, and everybody has skeletons in their closet and secrets hidden beneath the surface. Not only is this a well-told and beautiful story, but it encourages a bit of self-reflection and vulnerability in the reader. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Minor: Rape, Sexual violence, and Violence

jojo_'s review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Terminal illness

Minor: Misogyny, Homophobia, and Sexual violence