Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Leopardo Negro, Lobo Vermelho by Marlon James

18 reviews

nate_b's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

A truly brilliant story! The world-building of an alternative African magical reality is absolutely incredible. I will need to give this another listen, though it is so intense and violent I don't know when I'll be up for it. It's almost like the most graphic type of scenes from Law & Order: SVU all put together with terrifying descriptions of witchcraft blended with mysterious powers, destiny, loss, and a pervasive, bitter sense of betrayal.

It was hard to follow at times but well worth the effort and time. It's a long book but so exquisitely told!

The author does not shy away from extremely graphic depictions of the acts of his characters, including sexual assault, murder, and war crimes against children. I actually had to set it aside after the first time I tried listening to it until a time when I was more able to handle the violent opening scene and get into the fascinating characters beyond. Maybe next year I'll be up to listen to the sequel! I hope they get the same narrator. He did a phenomenal job! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Biphobia, Blood, Bullying, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Rape, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Colonisation, Murder, Cursing, Gore, Trafficking, War, Sexual violence, Child death, Drug use, Sexual content, Classism, Vomit, Domestic abuse, Torture, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Alcohol, and Animal death

t_thekla's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

3.5

last chapter slapped

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, Death of parent, Excrement, Homophobia, Incest, Murder, Physical abuse, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Vomit, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Violence, and War

lotsa bad stuff

softanimal's review against another edition

I love the rich imagery, imaginative storytelling, and lush world-building but the level of intensity is not where I'm at right now. Strong trigger warnings come with this one. The content warnings under "graphic" occur multiple times in each chapter.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Death, Toxic relationship, Child death, Violence, Body horror, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Murder, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Trafficking, and Misogyny

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, War, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Infertility, Vomit, Cursing, Excrement, Homophobia, Incest, and Sexual harassment

Nearly all of this book is graphic violence, rape, and child abuse.

A major plot is about finding abused children and there multiple graphic descriptions of rapes as well as ubiquitous references to sex, gore, sexual violence, and physical and sexual abuse of children.

minxtte's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Violence, Body horror, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Blood, Cannibalism, Death, Excrement, Grief, Gore, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, and War

jessthanthree's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Rape, Blood, Body horror, Violence, Sexual assault, Slavery, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Torture, Sexual violence, Murder, Grief, Child death, Child abuse, Death, and Gore

Moderate: Incest, Classism, Cannibalism, Pedophilia, Homophobia, Excrement, and Drug use

Minor: War

jialianyang's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

Wow. A mind-bending page turner with lush, fantastical, vivid descriptions and plot twists and turns. This is a book about friendship, lovers, war, kingdoms and queendoms, myth, adventure, and family that focuses on what or whom is worth fighting for. This is a book that you should not put down because each read will plunge you deep into this world of magical and fantastical characters and events. The story spins beautiful and horrific and awesome tales of loyalty and treachery, of kindness and cruelty, all wrapped up in cultural references to myth and religion. There are worlds within worlds here. Do not pick up this book if you're not ready to get lost.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Cursing, Death, Grief, and Rape

Moderate: Animal death, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, War, Abandonment, and Adult/minor relationship

victorianrogue's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, and Violence

Moderate: Cursing, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Vomit, Toxic relationship, and Sexism

aroguemonster's review against another edition

The prose and graphic nature weren't really appealing. I only kept reading because it was here, but I'm returning it to the library so I can get something else to read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, Infidelity, Homophobia, Gore, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Cursing, Child death, Child abuse, Blood, and Misogyny