Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Wake, Siren: Ovid Resung by Nina MacLaughlin

34 reviews

jamiezaccaria's review

4.75

A beautiful and haunting retelling of the women of Ovid's Metamorphoses. Full of imagery and feminine rage.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Rape

magikskydad's review

It was very well written but incredibly triggering for me. It is not an anthology for the light hearted.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual assault, Stalking, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Vomit, Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Child death, Rape, Incest, Excrement, Child abuse, Cannibalism, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Hate crime, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Xenophobia, Violence, Toxic relationship, Acephobia/Arophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

Wonderful book but if you’re struggling with mental health I would be gentle with your self. It’s pretty rough.

snowiceblackfruit77's review

dark informative mysterious tense 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Infertility, Misogyny, Stalking, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Death, Incest, Murder, Sexism, Violence, Body horror, Bullying, Rape, Child death, Cursing, Blood, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse

haleytaryn's review

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Pedophilia, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Stalking, Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Grief, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Incest, Child abuse, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Rape, and Violence

caffeinated_magpie's review

dark emotional slow-paced

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

1.0

 I really, really wanted to like this book. The summary promised stories that would “[lay] bare the violence lurking in the heart of Ovid’s narratives”, instead all I found was the violence in the author’s heart… 

Okay, that’s hyperbolic, but instead of the feminist re-telling, I was promised I got a weird mix of torture p*rn and revenge fantasies. “Wake, Siren” promised to give the women of Ovid’s stories their OWN voices, but that only felt true for a few of the short stories within this innocuous-looking little book. 

In fact, of the 35 short stories I probably only need one hand to count the ones I liked. 

You might get more out of this if you already know all of the source myths. I felt like I missed half the subtext when I didn’t know a particular myth already. Even if you know the myths, I am begging you to look up a list of content notes for this one. I usually don’t need trigger warnings and there were several points that I had to put this book down for days or weeks, upset and angry with it. It took me two months to read this. 

If I weren’t so stubborn I would have DNFed this thing.

Even the prose was a pain. This writer often veered into very purple prose, with confusing and uneven sentences. Or overdone similes. I almost like some of it, but usually, the prose was just too much, even for my artist’s heart. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Murder, Child death, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

rubi_blue6's review

dark emotional funny fast-paced

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

4.5

Imagine being able to relate so perfectly to fictional dietys from folklore 

Maclaughlin has a witty style of writing that makes every short story snippet feel like a full narrative 

Some stories I was able to predict based on previous mythological knowledge (of which, I realised I had a lot less than I thought) but it didn't matter - I was hooked

If you love magical realism, and explorations of feminism and gender in some cases, this is a perfect read 

So good, especially for a charity shop find!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Death, Sexism, and Sexual assault

kyliemaguire's review

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Child abuse, Death, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Sexual violence, and Violence

violetbooklover's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Murder, Cannibalism, Sexual assault, and Child death

lautlines's review

dark emotional funny informative inspiring sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Retelling of short stories showing women's perspectives is always something I will be all about. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Stalking, Murder, Rape, Cursing, Body horror, Incest, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, and Child death

mmwi's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault