Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

112 reviews

twistmalchik's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Self harm, Pregnancy, Forced institutionalization, Adult/minor relationship, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Confinement, Chronic illness, Rape, Body horror, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Injury/Injury detail

katherineshawwrites's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-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

This is one of those books that stick with you. It's gritty and bleak, yet fascinating, surprising and powerful. Rivers Solomon doesn't hold back when laying bare the US' dark history of colonisation, corruption, racism and religious oppression, putting these themes at the forefront of this dark speculative story. There is mystery throughout, with the truth being bizarre and yet believable, leading us into a gripping, tragic and somehow hopeful finale.

It isn't an easy read - Vern is definitely a morally grey main character who can be unlikeable at times, but she's also incredibly sympathetic, and you are always rooting for her to finally achieve peace, both with herself and her situation.

All in all, an excellent book, and I will definitely pick up more of Solomon's work.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Death, Religious bigotry, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Racism, Murder, Blood, Lesbophobia, Pregnancy, Violence, Animal death, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Addiction, Colonisation, Medical content, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Gun violence, and Misogyny

sarahsbookstacks's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

Holy fuck

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Death, Body horror, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, and Gore

tigger89's review

emotional mysterious 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

4.5

I wasn't sure exactly what to expect from this one, but I was pleasantly surprised. I'm hesitant to say too much and spoil the reveal, but the history of the cult had me on the edge of my seat. Vern's lack of knowledge about the world was also very well handled, particularly in the latter parts of the book where she has to navigate the modern world.

I went back and forth on how well I thought Vern's time in the woods was handled. There were a few scenes in particular where I felt like she wouldn't have left her children, yet for plot-related reasons, she did. Ultimately, I've concluded that it was in character, by virtue of the fact that she was a teenager at the time. A teenager with great responsibilities, yes, but still a teenager, with all the risk-taking behavior and poor judgement that entails. The book is written to guide us to forget this, but Vern begins the story as a child and has barely entered adulthood by the climax.

This story contains LGBTQ and disability representation. For the latter, in addition to Vern having albinism and a vision impairment, the progression of her transformation is treated like a chronic illness that affects her ability to perform some tasks. I also caught a vibe that Vern might be neurodivergent, but due to her upbringing the character lacks the vocabulary to think of herself that way so there was no clear confirmation of such. Similarly, she speaks around her gender and sexual identities — I'm unclear if she claims something like a nonbinary gender identity or not — but readers alert for such will be able to spot that something is there, even if the details are elusive.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Violence and Death

nonidude's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Bullying, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Murder, Gore, Racism, Physical abuse, Self harm, Violence, Animal death, Blood, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

Minor: Suicide, Homophobia, Suicide attempt, Genocide, Death of parent, Child death, Cultural appropriation, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Cannibalism, and Alcohol

casdelvo's review

dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Gore, Murder, Blood, and Body horror

Moderate: Racism, Animal death, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, Self harm, Kidnapping, and Sexism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Trafficking, and Addiction

clare072's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Violence, Gore, Chronic illness, and Body horror

Minor: Confinement, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Colonisation, and Child death

sirthatsacowboy's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Stalking, Death, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Medical content, Body horror, Gore, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

julieyael's review against another edition

I don’t know if the French translation was not good enough, or if it’s juste the book that doesn’t resonate with me. 

There was too much incoherence for my taste.

The pregnant person jumping from tree to tree, the « babies » surviving alone for days when they should barely be able to walk and so on…

Also the main character was not really loveable or relatable and I had a hard time understanding her reactions. 
There is a mystery and some fantasy, but it’s not worth (for me) the challenge of reading this until the end. 

And the content of the book has many hard subjects which I was not really expecting (I should have checked the content warnings before, because I was really uncomfortable with lots of things)

So, not for me, but maybe for someone else it’s a good book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Racism, and Child death

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Racism, Rape, and Stalking

ash_ton's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

3.75

i read this for the LGBTQIA+ book club i'm a part of! i don't normally gravitate towards science fiction so it's always nice to be pleasantly surprised. 
i was not expecting the turn the book took. like, at all. wild

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Homophobia, Blood, Stalking, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Sexism, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Cannibalism, Child death, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Medical content, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, and Sexual content

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Terminal illness, Suicide, Bullying, Cancer, and Cultural appropriation