Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Sirens & Muses by Antonia Angress

19 reviews

gtsantos83's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

Louisa, Karina, Robert, and Preston. Four artists/main characters tied together by their presence at Wrynn - a prestigious art school in New England. They are uniquely talented, but at much different stages in their careers/goals and ambitions. Roommates Louisa and Karina are both misunderstood by the other until their mutual attraction spurs an intense romance. Preston is a PITA as a student and an artist, but his work does make an impact. I personally found him insufferable, although his childhood and challenges did humanize him. When a project/prank leads to our main 4 parting ways with Wrynn, they all begin to explore themselves more as artists and as people as their lives entwine and reconnect in new ways. I especially enjoyed following Louisa's growth. Karina is clearly her muse, and I loved how she began to take creative and personal risks, while still staying grounded and connected to the family and home she loves. Karina also grows in her ability to open up and eventually let Louisa into her heart. She leans into her talents and creativity and never stops to question or second guess it. Her relationships with Allison and Preston drag her down and appear toxic, and she equally drags them as well. Her reconnection with Louisa is fulfilling to them both. At first I found the Robert chapters to be kind of a drag, but around the time he connects with young tutee Adrian, a new confidence and happiness emerge, and his story ends on a more hopeful note. I like how there is an open-ended resolution that leaves several options on the table for all 4 characters, for better or for worse.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Suicide, Sexual assault, and Drug use

sealbrecht's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Drug use, Toxic relationship, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Mental illness, Physical abuse, Death, and Suicide

fionamclary's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

Well, I'm sad to say that the quest for a truly excellent sapphic academia continues. Although I liked this a good deal better than the last sapphic dark academia I read, I still found some things lacking.

Like many readers, I had a hard time seeing how all four perspectives fit together. Often it felt like I was reading two to three different books. I think if all four characters had personal connections to each other, it would have worked much better. As it was, basically the only character that Louisa had any relation to was Karina. This made the different perspectives feel additionally disjointed. However, all characters went through satisfying development, whether for better or for worse. Preston, falling into the latter category, ended up being an interesting vehicle for exploring the intersection of art, capitalism, and the 2010s internet through a lens that captured both the 2011-2012 setting of the book and the hindsight that the author has 10 years later.

Speaking of the early 2010s...a small thing that bothered the heck out of me was the timeline of Preston's Tumblr. The book says that he started it shortly after his mother's death, which happened when he was 14. This would have been 7-8 years before the events of the book. Tumblr was launched in 2007, 4-5 years before the events of the book. I was surprised that a Millennial author would get this detail wrong—and she could have resolved it by saying that he started on another platform and then migrated to Tumblr, but no, it explicitly says that he started his Tumblr soon after his mom died. This bugged me way too much but I don't think it's an unreasonable thing to get right. Am I crazy??

I read this book in April 2024, as I'm watching encampments protesting the genocide in Gaza go up on university campuses across the country, so the Occupy setting of this book felt especially timely. I might recommend this book to anyone looking for parallels in their reading life to current events.

Anyway, I think this would be a solid read for the art girlies looking for something meditative and gay. Just don't expect it to be The queer academia of all time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Drug use, Classism, Alcohol, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Cursing, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Suicide, Death, Dementia, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Lesbophobia, Bullying, Police brutality, Grief, and Homophobia

paradicsomleves's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Alcohol

Moderate: Death of parent, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Suicide

tirrato's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective 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

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Drug use, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, and Suicidal thoughts

elisammansur's review against another edition

relaxing fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Death, and Sexual assault

cdingler07's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Sexual content

Moderate: Death of parent and Suicide

Minor: Classism, Death of parent, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, and Mental illness

frannyrdclark's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, and Mental illness

Moderate: Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual assault

Minor: Death, Dementia, Death of parent, Vomit, Grief, and Physical abuse

aweso10's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

make this a movie!!! plz. i wanna see matthew macfadyen as robert, daisy edgar-jones as louisa... i'm not super picky about the rest, but all in all this book made me feel SO many things. i flew through it, but it felt cohesive and the characters felt so raw and real and relatable in the best and worst ways. shoutout to mpls-based author/queen antonia angress for this work of art- literally!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Death, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Suicide and Death of parent

bootsmom3's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Alcohol, and Infidelity

Moderate: Grief, Dementia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Rape

Minor: Biphobia, Drug use, Animal death, Cursing, and Death