Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

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?

---

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

haley49's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative medium-paced

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

4.5

Masterfully done work that encapsulates a range of characters from all walks of life in colonial Southern Asia from Indians and Bengalis of various castes to Europeans and Americans, both men and women. I loved all the perspectives and how well they illustrated life in this period. My main issue was that perspectives and names were hard to grasp in an audio format as someone who is not South Asian. I would recommend looking up how the names are spelled to better visualize their pronunciation if you’re like me and struggle with that. Also, it takes a minute to notice perspective swaps because they aren’t organized by chapter and jump around a bit. Check trigger warnings, too; just because sometimes the book feels like a normal adventure and sometimes it veers to violent and/or graphic depictions of various historical realities. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Drug use, Racism, Excrement, Rape, Colonisation, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Ableism, Gore, Physical abuse, Body horror, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Cursing, Drug abuse, Murder, Addiction, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Violence, Classism, Death, Torture, and Sexual assault

Minor: Terminal illness, Pedophilia, Self harm, and War