Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Perdido Street Station by China Miéville

9 reviews

emisbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.0

i would never pick this book for myself, but it was bought for me as a gift, so i gave it a go.

well written, but too much description of setting + worldbuilding, even though its the first novel of a series. felt too long at points. i think this book could be cut in half if there weren't so many descriptive scenes. the writing is also unnecessarily gross at times.

the only character i truly cared for was lin. i felt indifferent to the protagonist isaac the entire way through.

the world is very interesting - a steampunk, victorian-esque, magical realist world with various species living amongst humans.

i wouldn't recommend this book if you don't care for science or engineering as its a core theme of the story, isaac being a scientist. i personally don't which has probably affected my rating.

(i honestly considered dnf'ing this book at multiple points, but i wanted to keep going just to say i conquered an 800+ page book, i guess)

tldr: good but not amazing. only cared for 1 character. too long. read if you like science/engineering. good worldbuilding. 

the fact that lin wasn't in the story for most of part five is probably the reason i stopped caring about the story. when she came back my interest in the story was reignited.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Violence, Body horror, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, and Gore

Moderate: Kidnapping, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Rape

Minor: Addiction

owenthetyley's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Rape, Body horror, Gore, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Sexual content, Torture, Police brutality, Death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Animal death, Blood, Sexism, Gore, Classism, Body horror, Drug use, Medical trauma, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Police brutality, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, and Gun violence

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Ableism, Child death, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Vomit, and War

Minor: Abortion

sf_book_cat's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

Amazing book, so creative. Fantastic world-building almost better than anything I’ve ever read before.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, and Body horror

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Sexual content

bennyfelds's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, Body horror, and Gore

Moderate: Torture

joey_doesnt_share_books's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

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Content Warnings

Minor: Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Death, Cursing, and Drug use

sarah984's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

3.5

This book definitely shows its age in some areas (at one point the author uses the word "autistic" in such a strange way that I still have no idea what he was trying to indicate, the plotline that pops up near the end and then immediately peters out also feels very dated) but overall I enjoyed this. The world felt original and the stakes always felt high. The characters were kind of awful but in a way that felt like it was on purpose.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Addiction, Death, and Torture

Moderate: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Slavery, Xenophobia, Excrement, Animal cruelty, Sexual content, Child abuse, Confinement, Dementia, Drug use, Rape, Classism, Gore, Grief, and Gun violence

Minor: Trafficking, Suicide attempt, Abortion, Pedophilia, Vomit, War, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

woweewhoa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

This is a book that tries to do a lot, and does most of it very well! It's a very vivid world, in the best and worst ways, as it's very clear that this is a place with a history and politics as complex as they can be anywhere in the world. 
This book also revels in descriptions of the disgusting and there are Several parts of this book that you read a description and go "Ah! That's it for today!" There's a horror in this book, not in the tension or 'jump scare' sense, but in just the vivid descriptions and how extreme some of them get. 

I did overall like this book, however I guess because of everything that piled up and needed payoff, it resolved in a way I didn't particularly care for? It became much more of a 'Monster Hunting' plot once the Slake Moths became the big bad, which isn't a bad thing! It just shoved some of the political ramifications that were being touched upon to the side slightly, and I think I wanted that to be more of the focus I guess! My feelings on the book I think come from what I was looking for more than anything else all said! Also don't really like how the Lin stuff ended up going, especially when she was gone for most of the back half of the book.

I think all my problems with the book stem from what I'm looking for personally, so if you can handle really rough subject matter that honestly does make you feel Bad from how visceral it is, try this book out!  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Grief, Gore, Blood, Cursing, Death, Excrement, Violence, Body horror, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexism

Moderate: Rape, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Xenophobia, Racism, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Infertility, and Incest

spoopy_moose01's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

3.75

I really, really liked the book. It is a very fun read, a rollercoaster ride that starts off a bit slow but gets quicker once you reached part three and towards part four. Mieville is a master at writing engaging characters who speaks in an engaging way. Issac, even being the boring male protagonist, feels interesting because man I love the way he speaks, I could almost hear it in my head. Lemeul, Derkhan, Lin, birdman are all similarly compelling characters who have their own motives and thoughts. However, I do have my gripes with the book. Mieville I feel could really use a Dune-style dictionary, because half the time I have no clue what they are referencing, especially in terms of the species and the different races that exist. Also, even in the fifth and sixth parts, it feels like he is constantly introducing new elements to the story, oh, it's another secret faction with immense power.

was the handslingers or whatever they were really necessary? I feel like they were forgotten so quickly that it was so unnecessary to include them at all, maybe just to provide something that weakens the moths? I don't know, it feels super shoehorned in like his editor had reminded him that the book has to be 800 plus or he's not paying or something and he just threw something in

All in all, though I have my issues with the book, I loved it regardless and overall just such a fun book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Kidnapping, Violence, Torture, Child abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, and Classism

Moderate: Rape