Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

198 reviews

marselise's review against another edition

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challenging dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

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grey_jayne's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense slow-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

4.25

I'm still processing from that ending! This is the closest to Octavia Butler's writing, a spiritual successor to the Parable of the Talents as in what could have happened if the Earthseed trilogy ended in space. Love it.

Aster is also one of the best neurodiverse main characters I've ever read. Brilliant depiction.

I did struggle with the narrative a little because it was character based over plot based.  I don't know how people will feel about the pacing, but there wasn't enough sci-fi in this for me the majority of the time, in description or plot. It's happening in space but super isolated.  But also, it does make the ending extra beautiful, so what do I know? Well done!

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bisexualwentworth's review against another edition

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  • 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

5.0

This is one of my favorite books I’ve read this year and one of my favorite sci-fi books ever. The way Rivers Solomon weaves together commentary about race and oppression and the most interesting take on gender I’ve ever read with beautiful character work and stunning prose. 

Be warned, however, that this is a VERY heavy novel with racism, violence, and death throughout along with a LOT of other potentially triggering content, so PLEASE proceed with care if you’re planning to read it.
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bash5617's review against another edition

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

4.5

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cassiebaker's review against another edition

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adventurous dark inspiring 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? No

4.0

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teapoweredrobot's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

LOVED this book! There were definitely times it was a hard read but it was so hard to put down. I'd pick it up for a bit of reading for bed and then poof  it's 2 hours after my bed time. It felt like a very timely read with the current US affairs where the struggling working class is banding together to "take on" corporate. (though not nearly so traumatic, it's a loosely connected theme for me) Time also felt a little mushy/not well denoted, much like the pandemic. That did make it hard to track the timeline of events, which hurt it a little bit for me, but it's not really a problem. I particularly enjoyed the mixture of the mystery of trying to find her mom and handling the ship's current affairs. The ending left me satisfied but also wanting more. 
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dabblingintgeminestrone's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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etherealwords's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective 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

4.25

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thedisabledreader's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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lilaceous's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

2.0

characters - ⭐️
plot - 
engaging to read - ⭐️
would recommend - 
would read again - 

i wanted to like this novel, but to me, it just fell so flat in so many ways.

the characters were well-developed and painfully engaging, but it isn’t enough to make this novel worth reading in my opinion. even the queer and trans representation felt more harmful than positive to me.

in terms of plot, the ending felt so out of the blue that i couldn’t even make sense of what the point of the rest of the plot was. so many things happened, but it felt like there was never a clear goal, even at the end.

also, the sci-fi elements of this piece added almost nothing to the story.
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