Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell

59 reviews

gbaty's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault

daffodilcherry's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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

5.0

I really found myself drawn into this world and wanting more! I was obsessed with the main characters and connected with them easily: I just wanted the best for them. I loved the overall plot but also the romantic subplot and overall diplomatic/court intrigue. It was hard to put this book down and not find every opportunity to just read it all at once.
Wheelhouse items: slowburn romance, mlm relationship, worldbuilding, galactic empires, arranged marriages (that develop into real love), emotional healing, murder mystery, space diplomacy, court intrigue, complimentary characters.
A note about the content warnings:

one of the main characters' previous relationship was physically, emotionally and sexually abusive. This is alluded to in the first half of the book and then made explicit in the second half through a few flashbacks. The sexual abuse is more in the vein of him not being into his ex-partner but pushing himself anyway. There is also a sci-fi bit where the bad guys attempt to effectively brainwash-gaslight him via memories (but they are unsuccessful). But the point of the overall story is about this character healing from their abuse and finding friendship and love that they deserve.

There is a scene where the characters fight against a bear.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Violence, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, and Sexual assault

Minor: Murder

netflixismyroommate's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Toxic relationship, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, and Death

Minor: War and Death of parent

shelvesofivy's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Alcohol, Sexual assault, Torture, Kidnapping, Rape, and Violence

Minor: Medical content and Colonisation

induced hallucinations

tinyjude's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

Setting, characters, world-building and the intrinsics between them were very interesting and well-developed. Despite what it may look like, it was easy to follow and engaging. I think it was well paced both in terms of political intrigue and personal relationships among the characters. I also appreciated Kiem and Jainan's relationship so much as they were mature, understanding and brilliant together. Also props for the representation of domestic abuse, gaslighting and trauma.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Xenophobia, and Death

Moderate: Murder, Car accident, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Violence, Torture, and Sexual assault

massivepizzacrust's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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? No

4.5

It's so nice to find a great sci-fi standalone. This one has all the slow burn, drawn out tension between two truly lovable main characters you could want. And the epilogue is the best payoff possible. One of the blurbs recommends this for fans of The Goblin Emperor and I highly agree! But it's also more tense and high stakes, and I really recommend reviewing the content warnings because there's an abusive relationship we see in flashbacks. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Confinement, and Gun violence

Moderate: Sexual assault and Rape

Minor: Sexual content

misszoe's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Alcohol, Confinement, Colonisation, Rape, Sexual assault, and Physical abuse

wilybooklover's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

5.0

This is a tough one to categorise. Ostensibly, it’s sci-fi romance, but it’s a lot heavier on the actual sci-fi than most sci-fi romance is. Or maybe space opera, but it’s a lot heavier on the romance than most space opera. In my opinion, it’s pretty equally space opera/romance/suspense (all three of which are interwoven), but whatever it is I loved it. 

The book starts off with our two heroes, Kiem and Jainan, marrying for political alliance reasons. Now, this is how you do a miscommunication trope. It makes sense that Kiem and Jainan would have trouble communicating properly. Not only are they complete strangers, with very different styles of communication, they’re from entirely different cultures and Jainan has been kept isolated and deliberately in the dark about a lot of things. They’re both so considerate of the other that they overthink and misinterpret and get in their own heads about it. It’s kind of endearing, actually, and the slow unfolding of their thoughts and feelings to each other was such a delight to read. They really complemented each other well, despite being charming-extrovert/anxious-introvert opposites. 

Besides the romance, which was lovely and gentle and soft, the worldbuilding and plot were complex and interesting. Kiem and Jainan get dragged into a murder conspiracy upon which the fate of the Empire hinges, and it soon becomes apparent that their lives are also at stake. On top of that, you have a potential rebellion brewing back on Jainan’s home world. It’s a lot, and I do think there was maybe a little too much going on at times (or, perhaps, not paced correctly). But I very much enjoyed this story of political intrigue. Once facet of the worldbuilding that I really enjoyed was the queernorm world. It was so refreshing to see queer people of all kinds just existing without being a statement or facing hardship because of it. The secondary characters were all fleshed out and interesting as well, although I did think that one of the antagonists was a bit obvious

(it’s always suspicious when someone is a bit too friendly and helpful).

 

Ultimately I think this was a well-balanced story of romance and space politics, and would recommend this to people who enjoy both of those things. There are some heavy topics in this, so do check content warnings first.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Car accident, Confinement, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Colonisation, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, Kidnapping, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Xenophobia, and Violence

Minor: Alcoholism

mysana's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Torture, Colonisation, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Death of parent

apersonfromflorida's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Torture

Moderate: Physical abuse

Minor: Sexual assault and Gun violence