Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Wake of Vultures by Lila Bowen

7 reviews

smitinghedgehog's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Gore, Racial slurs, Animal death, Body horror, Slavery, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Transphobia, Racism, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Sexual violence

drannieg's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.5

Really enjoyed this. Central character well drawn and compelling, use of historical-ish language managed to stay interesting rather than pastiche. And the monsters were men and actual monster and the narrative pacy. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Racism and Sexual assault

sarah984's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

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

1.0

I did not like this book at all. The "Western" style narration felt fake and annoyed me. Near the end there is a four or five-paragraph section that just lists all of the book’s intended themes like you might not notice them. There are a lot of attempts at diversity but most of them wind up being kind of offensive (eg. The use of skinwalkers, the situation with Nettie’s gender identity, food descriptors for skin colour, the depiction of the Lobos, the absolutely constant low-level misogyny, the way the main character thinks about and describes sex workers - even the one who tried to help her!). I hate sexual assault for shock value in YA and yes that makes an appearance here too.

If you want to read a cool fantasy western save yourself the trouble and read The Good Luck Girls instead.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Torture, Transphobia, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Vomit, and Xenophobia

Minor: Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Cannibalism, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Rape, and Suicide

laurenleigh's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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? No

4.5

I got this paperback as a “blind date with a book” at my local independent bookstore. Lucky me to come across this wild ride of a YA fantasy novel! Bear with me if you’re not a Supernatural fan, but remember when Sam and Dean go back in time to the Wild West? This book, with its western setting and monster hunting plot, reminded me a lot of that episode, in the best way. It was constantly exciting, full of brilliant characters, fantastic monsters, and some epic fight scenes. Also I thoroughly enjoyed the “finally fight the big bad boss monster at the end” plot structure. But the heart of this novel made me love it much more deeply. Watching Nellie Lonesome explore her gender identity, learn about the spectrums of human sexuality, and come into her own power had me cheering her on the whole time. Books like this are so valuable to have in the hands of young readers. I feel like I have a lot of other books in the queue next, but I’m tempted to switch it up and read the sequel immediately!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Sexual assault, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Sexism, and Racism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

raesengele's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Gore, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, and Transphobia

sharanya's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.5

Holy crap!! Picture demon hunting, with a Black Native bisexual gender-fluid horse wrangler MC, set in a fantastical reimagining of The Wild West. I mean, damn. I wasn’t sure if an author *could* pull off ALL of those things in a book...but Bowen does, deftly weaving a gruesome thriller & a coming-into-yourself story together with style. The plot moved slowly, & the western narrative style got a little tiring for me. Also, there were times where it seemed like the way Nettie questioned their gender identity seemed rooted in a lot of internalized misogyny (“I don’t feel like a girl. Also, I don’t want to be a girl because girls are useless,” etc.), which made me uncomfortable & not in a good way. & sure, they get called out on it & do unlearn some of it, but not nearly as much as they should. 

So while not perfect, I loved the gritty world & the immensely raw, powerful characterization built throughout this book. Definitely worth a shot!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

tattooedbooklover's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I loved the beginning but ended up not liking the direction the book took. I thought I would love a fantasy western with monster hunting, but I found that the underlying themes turned me off to the fun bits. Nettie’s internalized misogyny was difficult to stomach and I absolutely hated that

she “becomes a woman” for the sole purpose of allowing herself to be sexually assaulted

. I also felt that the indigenous rep left much to be desired and at times felt racist. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Racism, and Misogyny