Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Celui qui noya le monde by Shelley Parker-Chan

123 reviews

thecaffeinatedlibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense

5.0

Vague spoilers ahead.

This book. This freaking book.

Shelley Parker-Chan masterfully mixes the queer experience with the historic backdrop in SWBTS, and this continues in new wonderful and tragic ways in the sequel. It is stunning in its prose and pacing, and so well researched. The settings are vivid, from the smells to the backdrops of pirate ships. It spits in the face of gender, and gender roles, and challanges mysgony in every breath. I was angry, I was distraught, and I was heartbroken, but it was also so strangely beautiful and hopeful, in spite of all the darkness. This is a book about power, ambition, desire, and what you would do to seize your fate.

The character arc of each of these characters is astronomical, particularly in our main protagonist, Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu has done nothing but survive for her entire life, but in HE, we begin to see her learn the costs of her will, her pursuit of greatness. We see Zhu learn about herself, own herself and her body, and learn to accept and give love to those she cares for. We see her learn and grow, and when we finally see her wants come to fruition, it feels so right.

Ouyang is a character I have EXTREMELY complicated feelings about. General Ouyang leads a tragic life from start to finish. Ouyang's desires juxtaposed against Zhu's reveal several similarities, but I think Ouyang is Zhu if she never learned to see outside of herself. The way these two characters balance against each other? Magic. Ouyang's entire arc just hurt, hurt in a way that made me want to hug my friends closer. 
 
Baoxiang is a can of worms that I was not expecting from this book. His melodrama and flair and just sheer toxicity were like a bomb going off. It hurt to watch, but it hurt more to look away. Baoxiang was the quiet one, the one no one saw coming. His quiet ascent was bone chilling, but his bitter-sweet downfall brought forth Zhu's merciful side beautifully. I found myself relating to him one sentence, wanting to hug him in another, and then being horrified the next. 

And that ENDING. Perfect. No notes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Deadnaming

cheye13's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-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

Cohering my thoughts about this book and the duology together is a herculean challenge. It was not a pleasant reading experience, in that horrible things are happening to all characters at all times. It is one of my favorite books in that a vice was slowly, constantly contracting around my lungs until I finished it.

Even more so than the previous book, the transness in this one is tangible. A number of lines were clearly written in response to current events in our world. The interweaving of the ensemble is just as masterful as the first book. Beginning this book, I was afraid that it would fall short because my favorite element of book one couldn't continue (

that being the ouyang/esen relationship, when one of them is dead

), but my fears were unfounded. Not only did that thread continue, but it was intensified amongst other threads.

My options discussing this book are to break it down entirely and speak at length, or to simply say it's magnificent, and I suppose I'll settle for the latter.

(I strongly recommend checking content warnings. If you would prefer not to, keep the tone and events of book one in mind and know book two pushes a little bit further.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Suicide

Minor: Cursing, Infertility, Trafficking, Abortion, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and Dysphoria

A number of characters rely on dissociation as a coping mechanism. Especially compared to the previous book, there is quite a bit of on-page sex. While technically on page, it is almost never graphically detailed. Additionally (and fitting for the setting), it almost always falls into the dicey consent grounds of transactional sex – e.g. a lesbian actively choosing to sleep with a certain man for money or power. There is a single rape scene, and again, while on-page, it's brief and sparsely detailed.

implicit's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence

keetham's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Incredible second book to the duology. All the stories are wrapped so well, the threads from the beginning all fully coming to their place. Queer murderous imperial China that I didn’t know I needed. Ended 2023 perfectly

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and War

This is a book mostly about war and colonialism so, while well done and worth it in most cases, it’s not an easy read

spootilious's review against another edition

dark reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

 Read: December 22, 2023
 Title: He Who Drowned the World 

Series: The Radiant Emperor #2 

Genre: Fantasy / Historical Fiction / LGBT 

Rating: 4 / 5
 Review: 

I occasionally come across a book that I really struggle rating and I was shocked to find that this is one of those books. 

I came into He Who Drowned the World with very low expectations. I didn’t care for She Who Became the Sun, for a number of reason listed in my previous review. 

However, almost everything that made me dislike She who Became the Sun didn’t make it into the sequel which I am very thankful for. To be honest, I was concerned with the massive amounts of recommendations I received in regard to this series and how many awards She Who Became the Sun has won. I was praying that He Who Drowned the World would make up for what (I felt) was an extremely lacking novel. I was not disappointed. 

Parker-Chan is a beautifully talented writer (Which I knew from book 1) and tends to lean towards the very dark and morose. In fact, a bit too dark for my usual taste which may be why I wanted to give this book (He Who Drowned the World) a 3.5 and not a 4. However, Parker-Chan’s ability to write horrific imagery in a such a simplistic and straightforward manner makes the imagery all the more effective. This includes a number of sexually explicit scene, which paints sex as nothing more than a tool, punishment, or means to an end which, while I once again did not like, I can respect. The reader’s response to a story is just as much of a plot device as the sentences on a page. I was appropriately repulsed. 

I will also say that I didn’t care much for the lack of morality in ALL the characters in the novel. It left me without a ship to sail and was, perhaps, the main issue that I still hold over from She Who Became the Sun. 

All that being said, the fast pace and action-packed plot had me devouring this book, and I could not in good faith rate it lower than 4 simply due to my distaste. (i.e. the 4 star rating is more my personal rating of 3.5 and the acknowledging that some of the reasons it’s a 3.5 is because of my own personal biases against the lack of moral characters, rape, and very dark tones). 

Overall, one of the best books I’ve read this year. I will definitely recommend to individuals who love reading Dark Fantasy and Historical Fiction. 

 

 

QUOTES: 

“The most dangerous person in a game is the one nobody knows is playing.” 

“Nobody would lift a finger to change the world for us. To make a place for us. What choice did we ever have, but to do it ourselves?” 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

willowruth'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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, and War

its_thekla's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.75

Not an easy read but a worth while one. This finale took everything SWBTS started and finished it with such a freaking bang. The whole thing, for being a nearly 500 page book, read like nothing. Has awful as all the main POV characters are I couldn't walk away from it. Literally- I finished this in less than 36 hours with an insane 2 year old. Not only does this make me want to go back and start the whole duology over again, I'm now interested in how the audiobook plays out. 

Read this duology. Mind the triggers. It's a terrible time- you'll love it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent

andtheywereroommates's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gaslighting, and War

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Minor: Miscarriage and Panic attacks/disorders

ren_dragon's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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: Domestic abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Transphobia, and Blood

Moderate: Body shaming, Physical abuse, and Abortion

Minor: Ableism

aileron's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Confinement, Homophobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Transphobia, and Dysphoria

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Slavery, Excrement, and Death of parent