Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Prophet by Sin Blaché, Helen Macdonald

2 reviews

dreareads_'s review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious fast-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

3.5

This is the most 3.5 book I have read in a long time.

This is a fun scifi buddy cop(soldiers?) story about nostalgia and governmental propaganda. I think it is a book that is trying to do a lot, but at times forgets the logic of its own world building. I appreciated the anticapitalist, US military propaganda motifs, but they often times felt vague and repetitive.  Towards the end of the book I was left with more questions than answer, and not in the fun interpretation kind of way, but in the "I don't think the story understand its own rules" kind of way.

Fortunately, the book centers around two main characters that you cannot help but fall in love with. I am obsessed with Rao and his unapologetic queerness and large personality. A personality that is deepened by his own personal trauma and insecurities. Pair him with a character like Adam, whom in the surface may seem serious and unfeeling but on the inside is warm and precious, and you simply have the perfect recipe for a captivating relationship. Even if the ending did not fully work for me, I was just happy to be with them.

For a 500+ pages book it was fun and fast paced enough that you do not feel fully bogged down by the lack of world building. But if you stop and think about it too much you will discover holes that not even prophet could fill.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Abandonment, Cursing, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Torture, Violence, War, Racism, and Xenophobia

scifi_rat's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.75

Plot: 3★
Prose: 4★
Pace: 4★
Concept/Execution: 5★/3.75★
Characters: 4.75★
Worldbuilding: 3.5★
Ending: 3.5★

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Medical content, and Violence

Moderate: Physical abuse, Racism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Colonisation, Gun violence, Homophobia, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness

Minor: Gaslighting, Antisemitism, and Panic attacks/disorders