Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

8 reviews

kingorgan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Physical abuse, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Homophobia and Medical trauma

thoseoldcrows23's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious slow-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

3.0

When I initially read the series as a teen this was my least favorite book, and upon reread that remains true. We'll start with the negatives so that we can end on a high note: 

My primary complaint back in the day was that I hated Saf as a character. Now I find myself feeling softer toward him, but I find Bitterblue much more frustrating than before. She's a very well written character who authentically feels like an 18 year old who has experienced great trauma but also grown up with great privilege; however, that combination makes her an incredibly irritating lead a lot of the time. She comes across as selfish very often (especially in her relationship to Po), and I found myself wanting to physically shake her multiple times over the course of the book. The other problem I have is regarding the length and pacing. Effectively, the story has a mystery plot engine with two different throughlines running parallel to each other (1: trying to figure out what happened in the past and 2: trying to solve the crimes currently taking place); however, the focus of the story is much more on Bitterblue’s growth as a character and that causes the mystery to fall by the wayside in favor of a more slice of life type story. That paired with the sheer length of the novel left me feeling a little burnt out by the end of it. 

            All that being said, I sincerely love Kristen Cashore writing and the world she has created. I have such affection for this cast that I find myself willing to forgive many things that would likely bother me more in a different book. Additionally, rereading this series now with the knowledge that there are more books made the experience of Bitterblue more bearable because there's so much potential here moving forward. By the end of the book Bitterblue has grown so much as a character, and I can see her being much more likeable in the future. There is also great potential here for a more satisfying romance for her (because, though I like Saf more now, I still don't think they're a good fit for each other. Bitterblue and Giddon on the other hand…). Overall, I did enjoy revisiting this story and I am now very excited to move forward and finally read the new books set in this world. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Suicide attempt, Violence, Mental illness, Murder, Suicide, Blood, Classism, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual violence

Minor: Homophobia and Sexual content

If you're this far into the series I feel like I can tell you this book deals a lot with Leck's crimes and you just kind of get the idea of how messed up it is

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Violence, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault, Torture, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Gore, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Pedophilia, Animal death, Rape, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Incest, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Self harm, Vomit, Xenophobia, Homophobia, and War

Human and animal experimentation. Strangulation/suffocation. Mind control, overriding/alteration of will (mostly discussed/aftermath). Abuse and sexual violence, including of children, are described frankly, but not extremely actively or graphically depicted on-page.

siglerbooknook's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicide, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Rape, Violence, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Homophobia, Grief, and Gaslighting

Minor: Medical content, Child death, Blood, Medical trauma, Classism, Child abuse, Addiction, Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Outing, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, and Alcoholism

elle_dee's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, and War

charlieash's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense 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

4.5

katsa and po brought a deranged energy to this book. tackling each other and grappling in a fountain and screaming and crying and holding each other ... that's love baby!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicide, Emotional abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Gaslighting, Torture, and Death of parent

Minor: Homophobia, Pedophilia, and Rape

nyssbomb's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious sad tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Violence, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Death, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Incest, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Torture

amselot's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Death, Violence, Suicide, Self harm, Mental illness, Grief, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Medical content, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

Minor: Rape, Homophobia, and Kidnapping

There is hardly a content warning that doesn't come with this book... Don't read this if you are in a bad place, and I'd also recommend people suffering from anxiety take care while reading this. It triggered several anxiety attacks for me while reading and I was high strung and rattled all the way through. The ending does however tie everything up in a way that is calming and satisfying.