Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Kushiel's Avatar by Jacqueline Carey

16 reviews

lipstickitotheman's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful 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

4.0

A really nice completion of Phedre's story! Weaves between boring and intense, sad and hopeful. It resolves many storylines and plot threads. Such an interesting world, as an interpretation of our own. 
I had a really hard time staying engaged in the first half, but I was drawn in by the second half.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Murder, Animal cruelty, Blood, Sexual violence, Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Trafficking, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Medical content, Addiction, Drug use, Genocide, Pedophilia, Animal death, Colonisation, Alcohol, Drug abuse, and Religious bigotry

emclarke's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-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? It's complicated

3.0

I loved the rest of the trilogy, but think it tails off in this final book. I miss the political intrigue of the first two!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

hippievamp's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Death, Blood, Rape, Confinement, Child abuse, Trafficking, Sexual assault, Slavery, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, and Violence

Moderate: Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Torture, Grief, Animal cruelty, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gore, Alcohol, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Genocide, Medical content, and War

zoefranka's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

Moderate: Child abuse and Pedophilia

duckie84's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, Rape, Trafficking, Sexual assault, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, and Slavery

knatreads501's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Violence, Pedophilia, Torture, Slavery, and Trafficking

zone_a3's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Rape, Torture, Confinement, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

storykeeper_saga's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Torture, Misogyny, Slavery, and Sexual harassment

ambientdusk's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, War, Blood, Child abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Trafficking, and Addiction

Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Self harm

eyan_birt's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

My favorite of the original trilogy and I loved it still. Dark and intense, melding history with the fantastic, Carey's prose will always be among my favorite. As a medieval scholar in my own right now I got so much more out of it, and the discomfort I had with many aspects of early 2000s writing was addressed and rectified in this book (the guild for Namaah's servants setting age requirements etcs) though the ethnocentrism was intense this time around as part of the plot and that I didn't care for. Still, it made my heart ache and I will always love it.

7/19/23 update: I just finished reading the trilogy again, for perhaps the tenth time over the years, in preparation for both Cassiel's Servant in August as well as my intended use of this series as an aspect of my PhD dissertation. It's been a handful of years since my last review, when I had just begun my medieval literature schooling. Once again, I appreciated a new depth to the alternate history created by Carey in this world, but this time, I read the series as though they were a medieval romance, like Le Morte d'Arthur by Malory, and my appreciation of the text increased so much. While I wouldn't necessarily say this book remains my hands down favorite, it has so many elements which I love as both a reader and an academic. I think Phédre remains one of my favorite literary heroines; for all that she is exquisitely female and feminine in a way that is often presented as the antithesis of what it is to be "heroic," Phédre nevertheless is brave, intelligent, determined, and she never backs down.  That which yields is not always weak, indeed. 

Love as thou wilt. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Sexual assault