Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Wild Flower: Die Gesetzlose by Charlotte Nicole Davis

19 reviews

decklededgess's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

trigger warnings: sexual assault (opening scene), sexual violence related ptsd, drug addiction, trafficking, racism, imprisonment and confinement, 

This book was a tough one. I had to pivot from physical to audiobook just to make it easier to process. From the get go it's apparent this is a rather loose allegory for Westward expansion era slavery. I mean really only the densest of people isn't going to pick up on that. It's really well researched and tactfully written. The attention to detail in terms of character development, trauma responses, relationship and trust building, were all incredibly crafted. The characters felt real, their responses felt genuine, amazing and touching stuff to read. 
The fantasy worldbuilding was a bit confusing but this is book 1 in this world/series, most of it was expository which is understandable, and this was a heavily character driven book so I wasn't too phased. Plus if we're considering the prior knowledge we already have about Wild West America, really all you have to do is swap certain terminology and you've got 90% of it covered.
Amazing book, can't wait to get to my ARC of the second book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Trafficking, Torture, and Rape

jujubeees's review against another edition

adventurous dark

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Moderate: Rape and Death

mmefish's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? No

3.0

Unfortunately, I can’t name anything exciting happening in this book, but the author definitely has potential to grow.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Torture

Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

Minor: Cursing, Pedophilia, and Suicide

sarahaf712's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Infertility, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Violence, Trafficking, Torture, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexism, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction, Blood, Death of parent, Drug use, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Infertility, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Police brutality, and Self harm

julesadventurezone's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Blood, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Trafficking, Slavery, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Torture, Vomit, and Violence

melaniereadsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? No

4.25

Reread this in preparation for the sequel!

So I really loved this book! The beginning is so intense and really hooks you into the story. I was immediately empathetic toward Clementine and Aster, and needed them to succeed!

As the story went on, the pacing slowed down a bit and there were gaps when not much was happening. I grew to really care about all of the characters, but I was especially invested in what was happening with Aster and Violet. 
I think it would have been very interesting for this story to have had multiple POVs instead of just Aster, and I hope to see more POVs in the sequel.

Pacing picked back up again at the end, with a lot of intense scenes. The ending was very satisfying but still left me wanting more! I cannot wait to see what happens next.

The world building was rich and beautiful. This is such a scary world, unsafe for "dustbloods", particularly women, but it is so interesting to see the mix of fantasy elements with western fiction. I adored this book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Misogyny, and Violence

Moderate: Gun violence, Blood, Rape, and Torture

morebedsidebooks's review against another edition

medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Sexual assault, Torture, Drug use, Slavery, Death, Sexism, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Medical trauma, Grief, and Infertility

annalisaely's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I adored this so much, the characters were all awesome in their own ways, including having a lot of growth in different areas. The action and vibes were just as advertised, a delightful Old West inspired world but with a little magic and lots of ghosts, and a bunch of badass lady outlaws who only steal from people who deserve it. Also happy queer people, yay!
Personally I thought the heavy topics were handled very well, but I haven't experienced any of these issues personally. I have very high empathy and can't read things that graphically describe many of these things, but the way it was handled allowed me to process the topics without having to take on the pain of the characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Death

Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Slavery, Trafficking, and Violence

samusc's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Wow what a debut this is! This feminist found-family western doesn't pause even for a minute.
There are a ton of great elements to this book, here's just a few:

• The development of Aster and Violet's friendship feels so real.
  I really hope we see Violet again in the sequel. I don't handle character's sacrificing themselves well, especially one so well written.
• The vengeants and raveners are horrifying! As if running from unjust laws wasn't enough, our heroes are also running from malevolent spirits and men with the ability to break your mind with ease. 
• Aster's experience with working through trauma are authentic and messy. Her reluctance to trust others makes sense considering her circumstances.
• Our sapphic girls, Tansy and Mallow, survive and are happy together.
   
• Charlotte Nicole Davis pulls from dark American history (as well as current events and impacts) for this story including slave catching patrols, hysterectomies performed without consent/gynecology surgical experimentation/forced sterilization, and sexual slavery. These are incredibly high stakes for any characters to endure.

I can't wait to read the sequel to revisit these strong young women and their allies.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Death

Moderate: Confinement, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Trafficking, and Vomit