Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

The Deep by Rivers Solomon

23 reviews

shieldbearer's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective fast-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

I would give this book six stars if I could. What an accomplishment of worldbuilding and characterization 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Trafficking, Child death, Child abuse, and Slavery

Moderate: Pregnancy, Abandonment, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Blood, and Sexual content

Minor: Animal death

zombiezami's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Animal death, Death of parent, Blood, Body horror, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Child death, Pregnancy, Slavery, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, and Violence

Minor: Sexual content

kalira's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

4.5

I found this book not only incredibly interesting (such an unusual and creative base, and yet also so immediately immersive) but lovely and also painful.

Yetu's pain with her life and her people is telegraphed clearly, and it drew me in to her hopelessness, anger, and eventual grasp at escape - and yet the story also twines the reader into how Yetu is so badly torn even

when she does escape the fate that has been killing her

.

As I read more and got even further wound up in the story - both Yetu's and of all the wajinru, I truly desperately wanted a happy ending, but also dreaded where the ending would actually take me.

I was, in the end, delighted with the perhaps-not-perfect but incredible resolution that managed to remove the torturous worst from Yetu as Historian . . . and to bring Oori with her, never to be left behind again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Violence, Slavery, Colonisation, Abandonment, Ableism, Animal death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, War, and Trafficking

Minor: Sexual content and Eating disorder

jessthanthree's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery

Moderate: Ableism, Sexual content, Self harm, Mental illness, and Grief

Minor: Genocide, Death of parent, War, Pregnancy, and Suicide attempt

offbrandclubsoda's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, Murder, Racism, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Pregnancy and War

Minor: Sexual content

aardwyrm's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense 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

4.0

Short and sharp and bittersweet, balancing the mythos at the core of the worldbuilding with the personal experience of the (most prominent) viewpoint, grim and unrelenting and yet ultimately welcoming. Also mermaids and awkward conversations about mermaid banging. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Slavery, Pregnancy, Blood, War, Violence, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Self harm, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief

adhdru's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

Adding a full review soon, but I first need to sit on this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Slavery, and Trafficking

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, and War

Minor: Sexual content

tesstellstales's review

dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Racism, Trafficking, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Slavery, Animal death, and Sexual content

Minor: Pregnancy

kylieqrada's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative 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

I listened to this via the audiobook version, which is narrated by Daveed Diggs. I highly, highly recommend that reading experience. I had previously read An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon, so I knew that I was in for some deep (no pun intended) stuff with anything by them. However, I think that what Rivers accomplished here is so beyond anything else I've read, especially when considered with the context of the Drexia ouevre and the clipping song. The exploration of generational trauma and the impact of history on the collective and the individual was heart-rending, deeply impactful, and richly portrayed through each character. Also the diversity in this short novella is some of the best I've ever seen. I see you, demi rep! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Xenophobia

sarah984's review

challenging emotional reflective slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

This was a short book, but I found the writing style fairly dense and challenging. Somehow it seemed to have a lot of extraneous detail and repetition, especially in the middle. However, I really liked the messages about the pain and power of shared history and generational trauma, and the ending was good enough to make me want to rate it higher than I had initially.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Child death, Racism, Sexual content, and Genocide