Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey

11 reviews

nschilling10's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

It's pretty good, I generally like the characters even if Miller is a bit of an ass. I like Fred; he's good and honorable. 

The plot is pretty good; pacing is pretty good. They build drama and tension without being too hacky.
The ending is interesting

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Gore, War, Police brutality, Murder, Cursing, Violence, and Suicide

Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, and Sexual violence

a11eycat's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Murder, Vomit, War, and Alcoholism

Minor: Rape and Sexual violence

swordrager's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Murder, Addiction, Confinement, Terminal illness, War, Child death, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Alcohol, Classism, Genocide, Excrement, Violence, Cancer, Gun violence, Vomit, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Medical content, Gore, Abandonment, Self harm, Grief, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcoholism, Body horror, Colonisation, Deportation, Blood, and Drug use

Moderate: Sexual violence, Slavery, Sexual harassment, Drug abuse, and Sexual assault

mattiedancer's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

2.75

Writing: 2.75⭐️/5 

I read this after a Sanderson kick, so maybe I’m comparing apples to oranges, but if Sanderson is apples, these are tiny mouldy oranges left at the bottom of my lunch kit as a child. The first section of the novel, despite having the highest stakes possible, was hard to care about or believe in. From there, you’re met with a slog of exposition – telling and not showing, telling and not showing, and more telling and not showing – to the point that I felt exhausted. And, while I know one of the heights of sci-fi for some people revolve around its explanation of the science in the world, I couldn’t love the overexplanation of every little piece of technology. (Also, for a book in outer space, I really had to hear a lot about these two men’s balls. Please. Never again.) 

Characters: 2.75⭐️/5

I would love to give this a higher mark, but how do you have so many characters and so few female characters that stand out? They really felt like accessories to the men: ready to make them look good, ready to be set down when the moment wasn’t right for them, and ready to be picked back up to adorn them at the end. We also follow two men who, despite trying to do their best, are so concerned with playing hero that they felt a bit fake – and incredibly boring. 

Plot: 3⭐️/5 

Did I enjoy the parts of this plot dedicated to being sexist? Not particularly. Do I have to hand it to the authors for making a story I couldn’t quite predict? Maybe. I did enjoy parts of the plot and, at certain moments, I almost started to love it. Of course, it was usually in those moments that we resorted to sexist tropes, unnecessary exposition, and/or the defilement of a woman’s body. Is there something interesting happening in this novel? Most certainly. I’m just not certain I would recommend it based solely on that.

Who Should Read This Book? 

• Fans of sci-fi who aren’t balked by a little sexism/misogyny 

Content Warnings? 

• Body horror, death, gore, grief, war, genocide, suicidal thoughts, rape, sexual assault, misogyny, sexism, murder, blood, injury, injury detail,

Post-Reading Rating:  3⭐️/5

I wanted more from it, and also so much less. 

Final Rating: 2.75⭐️/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Alcohol, Sexism, Suicide, Vomit, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Death, Deportation, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and War

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Kidnapping

bookswithbethx's review

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Vomit, Murder, Violence, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Death, Xenophobia, War, Rape, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual violence, Confinement, and Body horror

iono's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• 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, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Grief, War, Suicide, Murder, Death, Excrement, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Genocide, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Racism, and Hate crime

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual content

mostlyvoidpartiallystars's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Misogyny, Violence, Vomit, and Body horror

Moderate: Pedophilia, Misogyny, Sexual violence, War, Xenophobia, Homophobia, and Medical content

ekcd_'s review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

This is definitely going on the re-read list. Probably on a list of books to buy, which is meaningful considering I’m broke.


I read the book after watching the first episode of the show and fell in love so hard I don’t think I can be impartial about evaluating the books good-ness.

Deep characters, realistic dialogue, deep lore and world building. 

A note on the writing of relationships … 

It’s the one and only sci fi book I have ever read, written by a man (men?) that had a sex scene WITHOUT bodily objectifying women. Without bodily objectifying anyone. Such a minor plot point, less than two pages, but for me it reframed my expectations of the book. No weird porny misogyny. Just an earnest description of what it means to share intimacy 

One aggravating, potential plot hole (hence the half star deduction) 

Why the fuck wouldn’t they just crash Eros into the sun as planned? It’s great for the plot to have it land on Venus but it was so out of character and out of dynamic 

I’m not mad though, because I would have hated for this to only be one book. But I hope they get their shit together on the next one tbh

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Blood, Medical content, Excrement, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Murder, Body horror, Death, War, Cursing, Gore, and Gun violence

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Drug use, Racism, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Cancer, Sexual assault, Torture, Alcohol, and Suicide attempt

jessgj's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective 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

3.75

So the first thing you need to know about this book is that it feels like 2 books happening at the same time. The book moves between two narratives, the space opera and the futuristic noir. For the space opera, we're in the head of the idealistic (Some might say naive) Jim Holder, th leader of the surviving crew of the Canterbury. The noir follows Miller, a nihilistic cop who has seen better days who was assigned to find a missing girl, Julie Mao. 

Sometimes the book gave me whiplash from the tones from the two POVs but in a good way. The book is very much a slow burn, which isn't my style but it does give you enough room to understand both characters and their very flawed and at times, tragic thinking. And while the book does have some old-school sci-fi feels, it does a good job of setting up some toxic "romantic" tropes in the genres and then calling both characters out for them.

Also, if you're worried about finishing the book but not feeling compelled to continue with the series, don't worry. It does answer the questions contained in the book while setting up a much bigger and more dangerous world for our characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Police brutality, Body horror, Blood, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Vomit

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, and Genocide

Minor: Sexual violence and Gaslighting

rcholst's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Murder, Violence, Suicide, and Body horror

Minor: Sexual violence