Reviews tagging 'Rape'

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

49 reviews

nadalien's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Slavery, Sexual violence, Rape, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Death, Self harm, Abandonment, Death of parent, Child death, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, and Body horror

lyfeistrip's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Body horror, Genocide, Suicide, Animal cruelty, Gore, Medical trauma, Murder, Rape, Slavery, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Child death, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Blood, Death, Gun violence, Self harm, Cannibalism, Sexism, Cursing, and Terminal illness

mybestfriendsarefictional's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Death of parent, Suicide, Child death, Death, Cannibalism, and Murder

karmkeigh's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

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

3.25

While the actual topic of the book is sort of lackluster and generic, the writing style is very intriguing. There is no shortage of imagery or emotion at any point- however, conversational passages can be difficult to understand. Additionally, the ending felt unexpectedly anticlimactic. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Death, and Rape

Minor: Child death and Grief

nicholasw's review

dark sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Child abuse, Gore, and Grief

Minor: Rape

paukinra's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Violence, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Abortion, Cannibalism, Child death, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Eating disorder and Slavery

Minor: Rape, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

will16's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Read the whole thing in one sitting. Nothing short of fantastic and to me seemed like a great entry to McCarthy. If your looking for something bleak this is the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Cannibalism

Minor: Rape

lilybear3's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated

4.75

I've been curious about this book for some time and I finally got around to it.  When reading and reviewing this book in 2023, it's important to remember this book was first published in 2006.  I didn't initially see why this book won a Pulitzer Prize, however, at the time and for all of it's hidden intricacies, it is great.

On the surface, the book is very straightforward and sentences are mainly stating what a character is doing or feeling, what the environment is, etc.  However, every now and then, we get a poetic and philosophical paragraph that wants the reader to stop and think.  This book is not a feel good book and there are some gruesome imagery at times, but it's not extremely pessimistic either.  There is hope, even if just a little.  Other themes are love, loss, grief, and humanity. 

I think this modern classic is really accessible, the writing isn't too complicated, except for a few words here and there that I didn't recognize.  I've seen other reviews question why there aren't quotation marks when characters are speaking and the lack of apostrophes in contractions like "cant."  These details are intentional.  As a reader, I could still understand who was talking based on how dialogue is laid out in other books.  I'm speculating here, but I think it represents the fall of structure and formality, almost all of humanity is gone.  It might also be hinting at the lack of education and need for written language.

I love a dystopian and I love that there are so many scenarios that fit that description.  There aren't a lot of details as to why the world has turned out this way, but I kind of like that the reader doesn't know and that is left to their own imagination.  I thought it might be a statement on environmental issues, but we just don't know.  Obviously, reading this in 2023 has made me compare it to more recent media like "The Last of Us," but I don't think that's a bad thing.  Both The Road and "The Last of Us" have similar themes, as mentioned above.

I could write an essay on this book.  I wasn't sure what I was walking into (I encourage you to do this with any book you read), but I ended up enjoying this a lot.  I couldn't put this book down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Murder, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Death of parent, Chronic illness, and Death

Moderate: Cannibalism

Minor: Animal death, Rape, Self harm, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, and Pregnancy

avilareads's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

heartbreaking, with a running current of hopelessness. some of the most beautiful prose i have ever read. truly a masterclass on apocalyptic fiction. 

i have some issues with the ending, i felt like it did not align with the themes and ideas that had been set up by the entire book. but honestly, aside from the last 5 pages, it was a perfect novel in every respect.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Death, Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Pedophilia, Child death, Rape, and Suicide

Minor: Rape and Vomit

alicemorrison1029's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cannibalism

Minor: Suicide, Death of parent, and Rape