Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

62 reviews

saucy_bookdragon's review against another edition

adventurous tense fast-paced

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

4.0

"He'd hurt her because he loved her.
Love. As if love excused anything."

A high fantasy about Desi lesbians challenging the government and burning shit down (as they should!) The Burning Throne kept me on the edge of my seat, set in a crumbling empire dealing with a magical illness that makes people grow plants on them and a brewing rebellion, starring likable and stabby characters with shifting allegiances.

The cast is centered around mainly women, mostly our queer protagonists, and all of them are Desi and it was nice to see that diversity in an adult high fantasy. This was really fun to buddy read because of the characters and how well developed and defined they are. I will say I kind of wish there was a little less jumping around so many perspectives with them as it would occasional hinder the pacing. That's a small critique though as mostly the transitions are consistent with the core cast of characters with Priya as the main protagonist.

It's fun? Would that be the right word? Like, it's not a light read per se since it is about war but it is entertaining because of the fast pacing, prose that goes down easy, and blorbos. It's perfect for fans of 'good for her' stories!

Specific TWs: illness (magical), drug addiction including symptoms of withdrawal (fictional drug). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and War

Moderate: Child death, Genocide, Child abuse, Terminal illness, and Murder

aklovekorn's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

Moderate: Blood, Classism, Colonisation, Drug use, Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Drug abuse, Death, Violence, Abandonment, Child abuse, Child death, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Suicide attempt

separatedhats's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, and Misogyny

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, and Lesbophobia

nekoshka's review against another edition

emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Confinement, and Misogyny

Moderate: Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Child death, and Child abuse

Minor: Homophobia and Lesbophobia

plesiosaurys's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

personally, i found the romance to be mediocre, but the way this book handles culture, religion, and colonialization is fantastic. some of the best ive ever seen. the only thing i found disappointing was [mild spoilers]

the religion revolves around nature and the forest, but actual descriptions of nature and the forest are vague and nondescript. we have no idea what the wildlife here is like, and the main character who practices this religion doesn't seem interested in learning.

it's the one area where the world feels flat. hopefully this will be addressed in the next book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Confinement, Grief, Misogyny, Death, Child abuse, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, War, Child death, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Death of parent, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Addiction, Drug use, and Violence

greymalkin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

What a fascinating world and magic system!  Metaphysic was a little too unclear/handwavy in places, and some character arc beats felt a little awkward, but overall, a very good read.  I look forward to reading the next one.   

I appreciated that many characters had shades of grey or at least were treated in ways that showed they were more complicated than just pure malicious evil (the exception being Malini's brother).  The reveal of the tragedy of the temple children and betrayal by the Elders is heartbreaking and infuriating, but believable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, and Torture

Moderate: Child abuse and Child death

quail's review

adventurous emotional 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: War, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death, and Child death

bagel_z's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Grief, Abandonment, Sexism, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Pregnancy, Homophobia, Vomit, and Sexual content

jessiereads98's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

4.25

Excellent high fantasy and excellent feminist storytelling. This is how you create a feminist story without monologues that seem out character or long bits of exposition that are discordant with the tone and atmosphere of the story. I loved the world, politics, and magic of this book. The characters are complex and I do find it difficult at times to fully understand some of them. I may not be picking up inferences I’m meant to. I do find the romance between the two main characters to be a bit underdeveloped. I found it difficult to follow the development of chemistry between the characters and progression of the relationship. It seemed as if we were told they were here in the relationship and had these feelings for each other without really seeing that develop. It wasn’t out of the realm of believability though and did not really take away from the overall story for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Murder, Violence, Addiction, Confinement, Drug use, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Colonisation, Grief, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Pregnancy, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Terminal illness

Minor: Abandonment, Alcohol, Bullying, Classism, Death of parent, War, Child death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Physical abuse

jjjreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Xenophobia, Confinement, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Violence, War, Drug abuse, Abandonment, Bullying, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Colonisation, Lesbophobia, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, and Drug use

Minor: Pregnancy, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Homophobia, Medical content, and Blood