Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Love in Colour: Mythical Tales from Around the World, Retold by Bolu Babalola

5 reviews

purplepenning's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced

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

4.25

Smart, creative, super interesting short story retellings of myths from around the world, cast into empowering, hopeful love stories from a British-West African perspective. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Grief, Alcohol, Body shaming, Bullying, Sexism, Racial slurs, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Minor: Death, Fatphobia, Murder, and Sexual content

spinesinaline's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.0

This was so delightful! It’s billed as romance short stories, though heads up that these aren’t all straight romance as they don’t all have happy endings.

I love retellings and Babalola has such an immersive and creative way of retelling these stories, not to mention the added agency that she gives the female characters. Her intention in empowering the women in these tales is immediately clear and it gives the stories so much more depth. She also highlights a lot of folk tales that aren’t well-known in the Western world, particularly African legends, so it’s a chance for new audiences to engage with these stories.

Personal favourites were “Naleli” for a truly inventive take on the original and “Thisbe” for the cute university twist on the crack in the wall.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Violence

Moderate: Death, Fatphobia, Sexual content, and Car accident

valereads's review

funny hopeful medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Ableism, Alcohol, Body shaming, Classism, Cursing, and Violence

Minor: War, Police brutality, Sexual content, Fatphobia, Grief, Death, Death of parent, Misogyny, and Murder

libbyhb's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.5

Ugh, these stories were so good and I wish there was a full-length version of so many of them. I picked this up because I follow Bolu Babalola on twitter and the premise sounded so appealing, and it really delivered! In each story, Babalola builds a detailed and distinct world with characters you can't help but love. I liked that most of the myths used weren't ones I was familiar with - it made me want to learn more about them. Out of the re-tellings, I particularly enjoyed Scheherazade, Nefertiti, Siya, and Thisbe, but it's hard to even narrow it down. They were all so lovely or heartbreaking, and the writing style made them flow together really well. I wasn't expecting to love the "New Tales" so much, too! Orin felt like a movie, and you can tell that Alagomeji came from the heart. I really enjoyed this, and can't wait to see what she writes next!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content and Torture

Minor: Death

the_literarylinguist's review

emotional hopeful reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Violence