Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callender

12 reviews

anarmandameg's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, War, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Death, Murder, Violence, and Blood

leereads93's review against another edition

This is the most depressing book I have ever read. If you like reading torturous things happen to people then this is the book for you. I get what this is trying to do, but a book advertised as "they will know her vengeance" implied that the mc will have vengeance? Instead she just goes around feeling bad that everyone hates her and while I felt empathy for that, I also hated her. I just couldn't do it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Slavery, Child death, and Racism

megan_martha_reads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, War, Child abuse, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Rape, Blood, Death, Murder, Hate crime, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Gore, Physical abuse, Classism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture

library_of_alexandra_'s review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Murder, Xenophobia, and Racism

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Classism, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, and Death of parent

Minor: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, and Sexism

kingsteph's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Slavery

Moderate: Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Torture, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Child death

neighborhoodbeanreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense

• 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

4.75

This book was definitely a challenging read. It makes you question the effect privilege has across communities and shows a character that you aren't sure you want to root for. It challenges the MC’s own motivations (are they in the her best interests, or everyone’s?) and how readers perceive the MC. It highlights the brutality of colonization, slavery, and genocide. It toes the line of unreliable narrator (their perception of their reality may not necessarily be real) and makes reader questioning what is and isn’t reality.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Genocide, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Death, Death of parent, Colonisation, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Murder, Rape, Slavery, War, Blood, and Child death

therainbowshelf's review

challenging dark mysterious sad tense 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

3.0

This wasn't the right book for me, but it's not a bad book. It has strong writing and a solid, interesting world. I thought the characters were well portrayed, especially Sigourney who isn't loveable but she's a compelling character. There was a lot of political intrigue and murder in this book, which isn't usually my thing, and there were a few things I didn't feel worked well but wouldn't have detracted from my enjoyment if I'd liked the book more. 

📘The Gist 📘: Sigourney Rose is driven by ambition and a need for revenge. She's the only islander with any political power among the Invaders who inslaved her people. She's driven to compete to become the king's next successor, but she has to stay alive to do that. 

📒Representation📒: BIPOC mc, strong woman mc, maybe m-spec mc

💕 For readers looking for 💕: Politicl intrigue, an intense look at racism and power dynamics, powerful female characters, interesting magic dynamics, ghosts? mystery and surprising endings! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Violence

kbergsten's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, and Violence

ok7a's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Racism, Rape, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, and Xenophobia

elissareadsbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I read this book because I really enjoyed Callender’s “Felix Ever After” and was interested in checking out more of their work! It is entirely different in tone, but a worthwhile read. Queen of the Conquered tells the story of Sigourney Rose, a young woman who lives on the islands of Hans Lollik Helle. She is determined to get revenge on the kongelig, who have colonized her islands and killed her family. To achieve this revenge, she believes she must wield power herself. The book explores themes of colonization, power, racism, privilege, and complicity in really thorough and interesting ways.

What works: I think this book does a lot really well. It takes on the hard task of creating a complicated and flawed protagonist. Sigourney feels fully realized as a character; her internal struggle consumes the pages. While Sigourney doesn’t have a lot of action in this book, it makes sense in the context of the novel. Sigourney feels so trapped between wanting the power and freedom of the kongelig and wanting the love and respect of her people that she ultimately is rarely able to take action until she absolutely has to. It is painful to read. The worldbuilding is also well-executed. There is a rich history behind the characters and places in the book, which grounds the more fantastic elements. Another thing I found impressive was the way it explored the history of colonialism and slavery in the Caribbean, weaving it into the fantasy world. It is blunt and brutal. 

What doesn’t work: My largest issue was the use of one device: Sigourney’s ability to read minds. I was excited to see how it would be used in her revenge, however, it mostly presented lots of background information about characters and places. While this showed off Callender’s worldbuilding, it slowed the pace significantly, especially since so much of Sigourney’s journey is already internal. However, I still found this a worthwhile read and am interested in the sequel! I’m invested in how the characters of this world move forward following the plot twist at the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Torture, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Murder, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Death, Child death, Child abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Trafficking, and Rape