Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

7 reviews

noetical's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Suicide, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Pedophilia, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Violence, Alcoholism, Blood, Child death, Gore, Death, and Death of parent

amethyst_knight's review against another edition

2.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Self harm, Rape, Child abuse, and Sexual content

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.

battybookworm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring 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

Rereading these books has truly been a delight. I am now unsure if I ever actually finished it previously but either way, this book had me til the very end this time! It’s such a useful book on recovery and how one can hold onto hope after devastating happenings occur. Cashore weaves past characters in beautifully and engages each in a way that makes their character fuller and more interesting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Murder, Mental illness, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Slavery, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Dementia, Animal death, Body horror, Blood, Child death, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, and Gore

This book, like it’s predecessors, discusses very dark topics. If you’ve read Graceling and Fire, this focuses heavily on the repercussions of decisions in those novels as well as what happened and happens after King Leck’s reign.

the abuse of people (particularly children) and animals as well as their deaths/bones are discussed frequently and in great detail through journal entry style or medical analysis. There’s some implication of danger towards Bitterblue as a child, but otherwise there’s no pedophelia/incest in the novel.

There are many character deaths and violent scenes.

ken_mcmurdie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Torture, and Sexual content

Minor: Animal cruelty, Blood, Domestic abuse, Grief, Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Sexual violence

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