Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

En halv gul sol by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

59 reviews

ciarammeyer's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

4.5

super super well-written! objectively, this is a 5 star book. however, i felt like at times the plot seemed unresolved—the cliffhanger at the end was beautifully done, but some of the other moments of uncertainty felt less necessary. i think it’s just a personal preference thing, though, i prefer to have my books feel a bit more tidy at times. 

overall, though, i loved this book. adichie shines light on a war id never even heard of before (western education proving insular yet again), and does so in a way that feels uniquely personal. the characters are deeply flawed—with the text exploring adultery, rape, elitism, and the brutality of war—but you never feel like they are irredeemable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, War, and Violence

Moderate: Gore, Blood, and Misogyny

beriboo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, War, Violence, Sexual violence, and Death

stasibabi's review against another edition

emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Sexual violence

Moderate: Blood, Child death, Death, Grief, Murder, Rape, and Violence

Minor: Vomit

dianakamau's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad 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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, War, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Sexual assault

foxo_cube's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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

4.75

I loved this book!

I will start of by saying I know very little about the Nigerian civil war - this was my first time reading about it at all, but I am grateful that the author included a list of books she used as reference material because I am interested in reading non-fiction on the topic now.

The characters within this were, I think, brilliantly crafted. They were introduced, typically, with a basic set of traits, but develop into people who feel real: people with idiosyncracies, and prejudices they trip themselves up on, and fallibility. There are no wholly good or bad people, and the feelings characters have towards each other are often complex.

The interaction between small-scale, interpersonal drama and traumas and the big-scale social tensions is very well-balanced, I felt, and the responses to the horrors of the war (and pre-war massacres) shown by the characters feel thought-out.

The ending felt almost anti-climactic, I will say, but then I suppose that's pretty realistic too, isn't it? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Mass/school shootings, Blood, Rape, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexism, and Racism

Moderate: Genocide, Alcohol, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Infidelity

inpalemoonlight's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad 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? No

5.0

I just love Adichies writing. 

Her prose is beautiful, painful and at the same time I learned a lot about the Biafran/Nigerian history. 

I love how regarding to one of the protoganists (Richard, white writer) she also touches the topic on who has the power to tell a story, whose story it is to tell and how history is shaped by racist euro-centric power dynamics.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Gun violence, Sexual violence, and Violence

lanid's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Police brutality, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Genocide, Rape, Racism, Sexual violence, War, Violence, and Gore

kellyofcali's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

I was lent this book, and I'm so happy because I loved it! While fiction, it was set amidst the Nigerian Civil War, which I did not know much about, an encouraged me to explore that history. On top of that, the wonderful, strong characters and their interpersonal story was gripping, sad, and real. Highly recommend!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Genocide, Rape, Hate crime, Violence, Death, Xenophobia, Grief, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Racism, Gun violence, and War

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, and Infidelity

aseel_reads's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense medium-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

4.5

this book is haunting. i am so glad it exists, the story needs to be told but i definitely don't feel comfortable rating it. the only thing i can say is that the writing was phenenomal, just completely captivating, it didn't feel like you were reading at all. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Police brutality, Blood, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, War, Vomit, Violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Racism, Colonisation, and Genocide

rchristine11's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

2.5

I would not recommend this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, War, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Gun violence, Death, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Gore, Child death, Classism, Racism, Sexual harassment, and Infidelity

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Animal death and Abortion