Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James

71 reviews

ren_fox's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Gore, Violence, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Rape, Body horror, Child death, Misogyny, Death, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Sexual violence, and Slavery

Moderate: Cannibalism

econsidine's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? Yes

4.25

This one took a long time to read, because it's 620 pages long and a lot of it is in a meandering pace and a lot of information is thrown at you that you may need to remember or recall. That said, I enjoyed it a lot. It's a twisty story spanning an unclear amount of years about a Tracker with a near-supernaturally-strong nose, his friendship/relationship with a leopard-man, a hired job to find a random boy who doesn't seem to exist, and also the Tracker's sort-of adopted children. If you like fantasy with inventive worlds and systems, if you like fantasy with a lot of characters and a complex plot that takes ages to progress, if you like books along the lines of GoT and The Witcher and The Broken Earth and are ready to jump into something new—this is a good pick for you.

NOTE THAT THERE IS A LOT OF HEAVY/DARK MATERIAL AND IMAGERY. I've tagged everything I can possibly think of below but have likely missed something. If you do not want to read something that involves any of the usual suspects of what people consider "dark" or "gory" or "messed up," then this is not for you. It's not a horror book, but it is often disturbing. And even for me—someone who loves fictional horror and grotesque shit and frequently reads books about cannibalism for fun—this one is a lot to get through and had me physically flinching at some moments while reading. It didn't read like it was just for shock value, as weird as that may sound, but the tone of the narrator through the whole book is very matter-of-fact, so many disturbing events are described in full detail but without much direct inflection/editorializing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual content, Body horror, Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Sexism, War, Blood, Death of parent, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, and Fire/Fire injury

bookforthought's review against another edition

I really wanted to like this, as I loved the idea of an African-inspired fantasy but the constant stream of explicit violence, child abuse and sexual content on basically every page was just too much for me.
I liked the African mythology and the writing style was original and intriguing (it resembles the oral storytelling tradition), but the content was making it impossible for me to enjoy this. I might give this another try in the future, but for now it’s a no. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Pedophilia, Murder, Slavery, Death, and Child death

bee26's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual violence, Rape, Gore, Grief, Death, Torture, Child death, Body horror, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Blood

Moderate: Sexism, Misogyny, and Adult/minor relationship

Be aware of some scene of bestiality

kingcrookback's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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? Yes

I'm fairly sure that people called this "the African Game of Thrones" for marketing purposes because they both occupy the epic fantasy space, but I think the comparison is apt for other reasons. Similar to how A Song of Ice and Fire is something of an examination and deconstruction of feudal fantasy and grapples with how myth, history, and subjective experiences tangle and interweave, Black Leopard, Red Wolf also tackles the interplay among truth, stories, and subjectivity. Admittedly, I initially found it difficult to detect and hook onto this theme, partially due to the book's graphicness as well as the fact that that's...simply how it goes with a lot of fantasy worlds. It took me about 100 pages to find my footing, and reading James' interview with the Boston Review was also very helpful (https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/representation-doesnt-just-mean-heroes-we-need-the-villains-as-well).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child abuse, Death, Torture, Body horror, Rape, Blood, Murder, Sexual violence, Gore, Cursing, and Child death

Moderate: Slavery, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Misogyny, Sexual content, War, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Mental illness, Grief, and Excrement

Minor: Drug use

eli3823's review against another edition

DNF. Stopped 1/3 in. Dense, highly stylized prose. Difficult to read. It's not always clear who is talking. Too much rape, graphic violence and reference to ass smells. Main character motivations aren't apparent. The part of the timeline, background that could shed light on who the protagonist is comes way too late. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Rape, Torture, Slavery, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Murder, Child death, Gore, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Violence, Emotional abuse, and Excrement

littlelynn's review against another edition

I got about 150 pages through this, then checked out some reviews to try and ascertain if the unpleasantness was ever going to let up and if the plot was ever going to begin, and picked up that while a plot does eventually introduce itself, the content continues on as unpalatable than ever. 

I do not typically put books down because of difficult content, however, the way it is framed and how unrelenting it is just left me feeling vaguely angry and nauseated without any emotional catharsis or payoff for enduring it on the horizon. Gory violence, sexual assault, child abuse, genitals and shit were mentioned every other page if not more frequently. It felt like the author wanted me to be constantly disgusted, and if so he was just far too successful. 

James is clearly a very talented writer, the prose - while difficult and somewhat inaccessible at first - is impressive. But I do think it smacks in places of literary authors not appreciating that genre is a different beast, and what makes excellent literary prose is fundamentally not the same as what makes excellent fantasy and genre prose. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Violence, Sexual violence, Rape, Child death, and Child abuse

marmybarmy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Pedophilia, Death, Abandonment, Medical trauma, Rape, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual assault, Slavery, Grief, Body horror, Blood, Child abuse, Gore, Torture, Vomit, and Animal death

Moderate: Incest

scribblesandsuch's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

This is very very good but also very intense. If you've only read Western stories it is a Big change of pace, the story telling of this is inherently and unapologetically Afro-Carribean. It's very gritty and gorey and sensory. Bear with it, it's worth reading

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Ableism, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Torture, Blood, Physical abuse, Violence, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Incest, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Homophobia, Addiction, and Suicide

t_thekla's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

3.5

last chapter slapped

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, Death of parent, Excrement, Homophobia, Incest, Murder, Physical abuse, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Vomit, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Violence, and War

lotsa bad stuff