Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste

38 reviews

angharadmiller's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Murder, and War

annreadsabook's review against another edition

challenging dark sad 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

4.25

Maaza Mengiste’s writing is stunning in this book about women soldiers who fought during the Italian invasion of Ethiopia leading up to the Second World War. The Shadow King details a young girl’s fight both for the country and people she loves as well as her own agency in a world that often treats women as second-class citizens.

Something I found interesting was Mengiste’s characterization of certain players on the Italian side, particularly a young Jewish Italian photographer who usually complies with his orders out of fear of being returned to a dangerous situation at home and occasionally finds himself questioning the morality of his position. I don’t think Mengiste means to absolve folks like this man of their culpability and complicity in the human atrocities that took place during the invasion—instead, I believe she sought to show the complex nature of evildoing. In this same vein, Mengiste depicts the leaders of the Ethiopian factions as being deeply flawed characters themselves. Even the people we tout as heroes, Mengiste shows us, are humans who, behind closed doors or even in the open, can be destroyers.

Still more fascinating is the fact that Mengiste modeled this story on the experiences of her own great-grandmother—I can imagine the kinds of emotions Mengiste must have felt during the writing process. This novel is a challenging, beautifully written tribute to the Ethiopian women whose contributions and experiences have often been overlooked.

I would definitely recommend this to people who enjoy historical fiction—a word to the wise, though, that this is very heavy on the historical component! Please also be sure to check out The Storygraph for content warnings on this book, as it deals with some heavy subject matter.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, War, Rape, and Violence

tenten's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, and War

Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Sexual assault

Minor: Child death and Antisemitism

bookreviewswithkb's review

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

5✨

historical fiction, African literature 

themes of war, the strength of women, fighting the fuck back 

this novel is truly stunning. i was blown away. i can’t imagine what it took to write this - the historical research, the lyrical descriptions, and the devastating content. there were lines and thoughts and ideas and concepts that just took everything out of me. that shook me to my core. 

although i didn’t find this to be true for me, i can definitely understand why people say this is a hard book to read. it’s extremely dense, and the subplots are real. but i think that’s when historical fiction is at its best. the characterization and stories that exist within the historical event brought to life through fiction - that’s what The Shadow King is. 

and i mean when will the empowerment of women, especially within the context of a story we are ALWAYS overlooked within, not be incredible in a book? i think never 

“who remembers what it means to be more than what this world believes of us?”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Sexual assault, and Rape

kittya's review

Got bored

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual assault, and War

zoes_human's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad

4.0

A beautifully written story of Ethiopia's fight against Mussolini's invasion. It is brutal and heartbreaking, but I don't think the truth of war can be told in any other way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Violence, and War

Minor: Antisemitism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Death, Infidelity, and Injury/Injury detail

fatimazahrah's review

challenging emotional inspiring sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Violence, War, and Rape

highpulpoj's review

challenging dark tense slow-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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Torture, and Violence

wngwendy's review

challenging dark sad 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

4.25

review to come

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, War, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Xenophobia and Antisemitism

athenaia's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

The book is very challenging to read but beautifully written. However it is also not a book that is for light reading. The topics that are discussed were sometimes hard to deal with and I would recommend anyone who wants to read it to do it slowly and stop if it is too much for one day. In my opinion the book is a fantastic litterary work even though I needed half a year to finish it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Blood, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Racism, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, and War