Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Sun and the Void by Gabriela Romero Lacruz

9 reviews

corallydeer's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Although the beginning was kind of slow for me I enjoyed this book by the end. The fantasy elements were unique and explored in a racial way that I don't see too often. The extent of the portrayals for racism and religious bigotry was often quite sobering and a bit tough to get through, but it felt worthwhile by the end. It was also a bit tough, at first, to sympathize or relate to the characters since many of their situations felt so dire and the choices they had to make so manipulated, but by the end of the book I really rooted for the main group. They all grew in really great ways and I wanted so many of them to achieve real happiness and freedom from their abusive origins.

I will say, as someone who doesn't speak/know a lick of Spanish, that I made sure to pair the book with the audiobook so that I could hear how words and names were pronounced and I definitely think that was a 10/10 decision. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Violence, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Religious bigotry, and Gore

Moderate: Racial slurs, Kidnapping, Cursing, Murder, Grief, and Blood

Minor: Misogyny, Slavery, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, and Colonisation

Child Abuse

(young babies are used to check if someone is a reincarnated wife of Rahamagut by being abandoned on a mountain and potentially left for dead)

| Death (of Parent(s) & Child)

(Doña Laurel and her baby pass away in childbirth; babies left on the mountain as mentioned in first tag; various dead relatives mentioned from the past or experienced through the course of the book)

| Domestic Abuse

(Javier physically abuses his wife, Eva, once they're married and treats her poorly once they're legally and magically bound)

| Gore

(attacks, especially from the tinieblas, are graphic)

| Pregnancy

(Doña Laurel becomes pregnant and labor is described somewhat graphically)

| Racism

(Reina and Eva are both mixed-race characters who experience open and hidden discrimination regularly)

| Religious Bigotry

(Eva deals with religious bigotry related to the fact that she's part valco; bigotry against those that don't follow the human's religion of saints; Eva's curandera mentor is burned alive for being a "witch")

| Violence

(Reina gets attacked by monsters; sword fighting training; valcos are known to scalp antlers from other valcos they best in battle)

| Blood

(moderate depictions of blood, gore descriptions are worse)

| Cursing & Racial Slurs

(moderate levels of cursing around the fantasy racial slurs)

| Grief

(moderate depictions of grief over lost loved ones, choices made, etc)

| Kidnapping

(Reina and Javier kidnap young girls to help with reincarnating Doña Laurel, but the process isn't described in too much detail)

| Murder

(Don Enrique openly kills a witness to their plans; Reina kills her grandmother; Reina's grandmother murder's seven of the nine wives)

| Colonization

(it's mentioned in passing that humans colonized Venazia, taking nozariels as slaves, valcos as warriors, and eradicating yares)

| Gun Violence

(mentioned in passing as part of a story)

| Homophobia

(not really outright, but insinuated here and there, and explained to be a colonizer mindset brought in related to the ability to produce heirs)

| Incest

(valcos are mentioned to have inter-bred for breed purity in passing)

| Misogyny

(Javier makes some remarks to Doña Laurel about her role being for breeding)

| Slavery

(slavery of other races used to be legal, but was outlawed so it's mentioned in passing somewhat frequently)

schleis's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Domestic abuse and Kidnapping

_annika__'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense slow-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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Colonisation, Death, Slavery, Classism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Infertility, Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War

manicpixl's review

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Racism, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Homophobia

persephonefoxx's review

adventurous mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Miscarriage, Violence, Racism, and Child death

Moderate: Racism, War, Religious bigotry, and Slavery

Minor: Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Incest

gen_wolfhailstorm's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

4.5

Thank you to Black Crow PR for granting me a physical uncorrected proof of this title. All opinions remain 100% genuine.

Buddy read with Sharron Joy Reads.

I loved the depth of this tale. It was slow for the first 3rd or so with world building but once I pushed through, I found it to be worthwhile.
The setting was lush, tense and atmospheric, all at the appropriate times.

I appreciated all the contextual terminology being at the front. I find nothing more tedious than trailing through the end of the book, looking for what something means, with the fear of seeing a spoiler hanging over me like a black cloud.

The conversation of oppression, classim and the mistreatment of other species due to being who they are was so on point to how society still is in the real world.

The sapphic romance threaded through was great. I felt like there was a lot of manipulation in the romance though (as well as the platonic relationships) and it was hurtful to see characters I began to care about being strung along on the whims of others.

The magic system felt unique and unusual to me and though at times it went over my head a little, I was excited to see powers being mastered by various characters.

this is the 2nd book in as many with some weird incest thread, oh dear... I mean I wasn't expecting that and I still don't really get the how... I guess Celeste and Reina would be 1st half cousins?

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and can see how it can set up for a sequel, but equally would feel complete enough as a stand a lone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Sexual content, Addiction, Body shaming, Child death, Suicide attempt, Death, Abandonment, Confinement, Death of parent, Homophobia, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racism, Colonisation, Cursing, Slavery, War, Chronic illness, Classism, Gore, Misogyny, Self harm, Xenophobia, Grief, Racial slurs, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Incest, Kidnapping, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Lesbophobia, Trafficking, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Hate crime, and Toxic relationship

ladynavalon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark inspiring slow-paced

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

3.0

I really enjoyed the world bulding, that's five stars, no doubt. But, I didn't like the pace, some characters seem not know what to doy and the plot is not clear for the first half of the book. In this sense, I feel like the characters needed more work. Also, I didn't like how the author writes... I admire her for writting almost 600 pages in a different language, but it is hard to follow her sometimes... but I insist, I love the world she created.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Death of parent, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Hate crime, Dysphoria, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Miscarriage, Incest, Homophobia, Gaslighting, Abortion, Toxic friendship, Terminal illness, Slavery, Bullying, Blood, Racial slurs, Mental illness, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Racism, Body shaming, Abandonment, Xenophobia, and Murder

bookishaudge's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-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? Yes

4.5

4.5⭐️

A quick synopsis: The story is told in two POVS, Reina and Eva. Both we follow in their lives and adventures in this dark high fantasy were a dark god’s seal can be weakened every 47 years where you can ask him anything you want, but everything comes with a price. in a fantastical and imaginative world with creatures this novel is decided in two parts. One of our protagonist, Reina is a nozariel, her species were enslaved by humans not long ago and are still seen and treated like garbage. Eva is a quarter valco, (which in some places is a high status/honor to be a valco) where she is raised in high society but she was raised by humans who so they see her as an abomination. Both protagonist we follow as the impending doom of the dark god and his followers plot to release him. 

Review: I will say before getting into everything. This book is best read if you are in the mood! (I wasn’t not in the beginning but I was very much still enraptured by the story.) Part 1 of the story is world building which is great to set up the story, it was a lot of information and things to absorb, so if that’s not your cup of tea, I get it. The dual POVs were also great, I just wished there was more Eva’s pov in the beginning or more evenly put. All of the characters I loved and hated because they are so complex and grey which I loved because it made me want to know what happens. The book is dark! I sometimes forgot about that and then something happens and I’m like 🫨, so prepare yourself. Part 2 is where things really start to get in motion and the plot builds up. Characters become more questionable and you will be left wondering who to cheer for. I loved the magic system and the world and the diversity! I also loved the sapphic love triangle and pining 🥹 it was so good. I did have strong feelings on certain unlikable characters lol but honestly it made the read so enjoyable. There were so many tense moments and betrayal it was so good. The ending has me shook, especially with a certain so and so’s ending 👀😈. 

Thank you so much to NetGalley for this arc! 

The Sun and the Void comes out July 25! Go grab a copy, so I can talk about it with someone😃

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Classism, Kidnapping, and Death

Moderate: Gore, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Colonisation

krisalexcole's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Gore, Colonisation, Pregnancy, Death, Toxic relationship, and Murder

Moderate: Classism, Medical content, War, Medical trauma, Chronic illness, Body shaming, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Genocide, Child death, Death of parent, Body horror, Kidnapping, and Grief

Minor: Homophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Fatphobia, Alcohol, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Cursing, Sexual content, Suicide, Confinement, Infertility, Incest, Torture, and Child abuse

Dismemberment, homelessness