Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Conjure Women by Afia Atakora

30 reviews

paulineerika's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

This one is a hard one for me to rate. I had originally started reading it from the library months ago, but couldn't really get into it, so I ended up returning it. I later bought it so that I would have more time to read it and ended up finishing it in a relatively short amount of time.

I've seen some other reviews criticize the plot of this book as being too meandering or drifting and I can see that. I think the summary provided is misleading: this isn't a clear story about three women and their lives throughout the end of the Civil War. In fact, I wouldn't really call it a story about three women at all. If anything, it's Rue's story, but it's really more about the community in the aftermath of the Civil War. I think one reviewer had it right: the story felt like a mood, not a plot. It's not one that's easily defined or even described. 

Atakora's writing is wonderful and I enjoyed it, but the book itself was not as enjoyable, if that makes sense. I was stressed a lot when reading it, waiting for the worst to happen. And while the axe never quite falls, there is a lot of tragedy and trauma that the characters experience almost casually, like it's just a regular part of life, which is heartbreaking. (Of course, given the setting of the story, I guess that's not so surprising.) The ending is tentatively happy, but not completely satisfying. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery

Moderate: Rape, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, and Sexual assault

madeleinebay's review against another edition

emotional sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Torture, Rape, Slavery, Violence, Child death, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Hate crime, Murder, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, and Sexual assault

michaelion's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.25

Something's missing. I found myself confused through most the book, and not in the normal way that I like to be confused whenever I'm reading magical realism. Something's just not there. I'm not sure what it is, or if this even makes sense, but I realized it about a quarter of the way through, and that feeling just lingered the rest of the time. I would say maybe I need to reread it in the future, but who knows if I will. The subject matter of slavery is already so triggering for me, but with the rest of the triggering content I know I won't pick it up again for, mm, maybe three years minimum. Not to say that the content is explicit or overt, that's just how triggers are, in general.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Racism, Torture, Infidelity, Confinement, Miscarriage, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Hate crime, Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Rape, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Slavery, Child death, Grief, Violence, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Dementia, War, Misogyny, Animal death, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Infertility, Murder, Abortion, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Xenophobia, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Medical content, Terminal illness, and Stalking

brooke123's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Slavery, Rape, and Miscarriage

marisnini's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Slavery, and Racism

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

michelejenn's review against another edition

challenging tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Child death, Confinement, Grief, Hate crime, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, and Slavery

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Rape, and Abortion

cantfindmybookmark's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Slavery, Miscarriage, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Torture, Child death, and Sexual assault

shafaerie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Racism, Racial slurs, Slavery, and Torture

nialiversuch's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Grief, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Blood, Torture, Violence, War, Colonisation, Cursing, Murder, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Kidnapping, Medical content, Child death, Death, Body horror, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, and Trafficking

Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Abortion, Vomit, Miscarriage, and Suicidal thoughts

taviarz's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

3.0

I think I just expected something different when I went into it and to see actual magic. I also didn’t understand the point of putting May’s chapters in first person. There were also some sloppy points during the end. The book was emotional and complex but in the end I think it just didn’t hit for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Abortion, Alcohol, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Violence, Gore, and Medical content

Moderate: War