Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

39 reviews

ceceleininger's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.75

favorite characters: Po, Death, Thiel 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide and Self harm

Minor: Rape, Torture, and Pedophilia

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

jordyn_alexx's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

Reread August 2023:
This was longer than I remembered, but that was welcome. It was certainly familiar, but there were also less finer details that I remembered than I would’ve thought. I’m happy I reread it. 
I’d forgotten how endearing Death was and how nice it was to witness the start of Bitterblue and Giddon’s friendship. I found myself not quite frustrated, but wishing Bitterblue did certain things differently. 

Edit: Reread April 2021
With this reread I think I was seeing things from new perspective. It's hard to understand how things have progressed within the timeframe, but at the same time, I imagine it's realistic. After reading Winterkeep, it's nice to be reminded of how things developed in this book. 
~
This was not my favorite of the Graceling books, but I still loved it. I connected really well with the characters and I was left wishing she'd write more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Torture, Death of parent, Trafficking, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence

Minor: Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Violence, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Sexual assault, Animal death, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, and Physical abuse

katherineguild35's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Torture, Rape, Pedophilia, Murder, Death, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide, Trafficking, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Medical trauma

ksykes's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

I love this book; a very close second to Fire in my eyes. Kristin Cashore has never done me wrong. 💗

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Rape, Self harm, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Grief, and Suicide

Moderate: Pedophilia, Alcoholism, and Murder

Minor: Blood

dahlia_maxwell's review against another edition

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Torture

Moderate: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Death

Minor: Animal cruelty, Blood, Confinement, and Murder

Bitterblue must unravel and deal with the abuse and manipulation of her now-deceased father. As she learns more and more of his horrible acts, it could be difficult to read for someone who is sensitive to topics of manipulation, abuse, senseless harming of others, incestuous pedophilia, or sexual assault

emmyhall's review against another edition

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Murder

Moderate: Pedophilia, Suicide, Self harm, Rape, and Torture

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.

espressoreader's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Suicide, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Animal cruelty, Gaslighting, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, and Death of parent

bencaroline's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Moderate: Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Murder, Violence, Abandonment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, War, Self harm, Sexual assault, Trafficking, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcohol and Vomit