Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh

2 reviews

theirgracegrace's review

adventurous challenging 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

4.25

Sea of Poppies whisks you away to a different age that speaks about our own. The story bounces between several characters who are all share the experience of being on a retrofitted slave ship bringing Indian migrants to Mauritius at the dawn of the Opium Wars between Britain and China. The characters are a ragtag bunch who bring with them a vibrancy that I have never seen in historical fiction. The setting's time period and location are immensely deep and alive. The ending leaves a wide opening for many possible interpretations. What more could you want?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Ableism, Trafficking, Vomit, Blood, Bullying, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Confinement, Body shaming, Deportation, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Excrement, Drug use, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Suicide, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexism, Stalking, Xenophobia, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War

Moderate: Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, and Grief

blancefloer's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny hopeful reflective 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

Very rich use of language including many words whose cultural background most readers don't have - you can either look them up or just accept that you won't have the images exactly right - and hard-to-read dialects. Totally worth it, though. Such diverse characters, from all kinds of margins, and also just a really fun and adventurous read. Fully recommend

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Addiction, Racism, Slavery, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Confinement, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Violence, Physical abuse, Bullying, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Abandonment, Murder, Death, Rape, Sexual violence, and War