Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Haşhaş Savaşı by R.F. Kuang

1311 reviews

juliaaaashmu's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Violence

stilestastic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

5.0

HOLY SHIT.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

purpl_pages's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Gore, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, and War

claireguillet's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Just really did not connect with any of the characters 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, Colonisation, and War

themoostconfused's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty and Excrement

emily_therese_4's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, and War

Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Rape

Minor: Animal death, Misogyny, and Self harm

bri_14's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Whew this book was a RIDE. I thought it was gonna be much lighter than it actually was. But it might’ve been for the best bc it’s a more accurate portrayal—using people as weapons/vessels, the propaganda, loss of life and not in the literal. These kids had no childhood, causalities never got to age. Very depressing. It kinda feels like reading Naruto Shippuden once they hit the war eps. But it’s like being in the mind of Sasuke instead of following Naruto. Rin would both idolize  and despise that man😂

I was NOT able to predict any of the deaths.

Irjah, of course but ALTAN???

I really thought he would’ve lasted til the end. But I think it was better off if

Venka

died bc hearing her experience is kinda traumatizing. Realistic tho but just gruesome, I think my mind would’ve snapped. 

I’m thinking Rin will help reform the country, similar to the stories of the previous emperors or the play she watched with Kitay. I think ppl will fear her too much to harm her—maybe her master will put a finger to her forehead again and still her mind. And I refuse to believe

Nezha

is dead!!! There’s no way that would’ve happened off book, if he does die Rin will have to witness it bc she cares too much about him

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Murder, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Self harm, Suicide, and Classism

Minor: Slavery

origami_cactus's review against another edition

medium-paced

1.5

I have mixed feelings about this book. I think there is some good writing in here and I think the first part is strong. However, I think it doesn't follow through on the character development. It uses some horrific events but it doesn't feel like the main character was affected by those events as much as she was affected by a different character's reaction to those events. I felt the ending, while better in my opinion than the 6 or so chapters that came before it, wasn't earned from the set up. I think perhaps it's due to an over reliance on a relationship between two characters that didn't feel strong enough to justify the lengths that Rin went though for them. I'm a bit disappointed because there are great ideas in here, but the execution leaves me wanting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and War

Minor: Self harm

sgleco's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault

quechaya's review against another edition

This is not adult fiction. It is full of YA tropes and the characters are all shallow or caricatures. First the protagonist is a poor orphan turned "chosen one" at a very special academy with a mysterious mentor, and then she joins a group of teenage x-men. Then the story becomes  very thinly veiled "fanfiction" of the Nanjing Massacre and Unit 731. To exploit those atrocities for the plot of a fantasy novel (for personal profit!) is absolutely disgusting in my opinion. Writing a fantasy novel means you should come up with your own fucking war crimes. It's disrespectful AND it's lazy writing. 

Anyway. If you want to experience secondhand trauma from reading about how horrible humans are, you can save yourself a lot of time by skipping this book and just reading the wikipedia pages for the Nanjing Massacre and Unit 731.

This pales in comparison to the book's other problems, but protagonist went on and on about two male characters being "perfect." And the guy she was obsessed with physically abused her multiple times. Cool!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism