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wanderlustnefelibata's review against another edition
False advertising I thought I was reading an adventure book about a forest but then no it was unexpected and unwelcome and I strongly dislike it do not read this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Murder
gasmasquerade's review against another edition
DNF
- Book is Sexist - I only made it 52 pages in, but thus far the only female characters in this book function as tools for men either to learn from, use, or abuse. One is literally a tool for a man.
She died and he chopped her body up into bits and turned her into a bow. . In an effort to spare myself from enduring through a book in the hopes that it's "not what you think", I googled "Brian Catling sexist" and found this review which confirmed my suspicions and granted me permission to give up the pointless endeavor.
(From Goodreads) "I read the whole thing because i liked the prose but wow what a waste of my time. sexist/racist book with flat characters. Lots of pointless sex scenes and dick descriptions. Annoying." - Freudian Male Fantasy - I don't want to kink shame the author here, but this book is hailed as a fantasy masterpiece, when in reality it reads closer to a self-insert male fantasy. Some one on goodreads said, "Reads like an old white dude's psychoanalytic sessions" and I couldn't agree more. Within the first 30 pages, there is a
young boy who fucks his (robot) mother/teacher figure because she has to "teach him about pleasure" Sounds like every badly-acted video on porn hub, doesn't it? If Catling wants to work out his pyschosexual musings on page, that's fine, but I don't share his desires and have no interest reading about them. Erotic, bizarre fantasy narratives can be compelling, but self-insert erotic male fantasies aren't my cup-of-tea. - Prose is Tedious - Catling's writing is the definition of purple prose. While some may enjoy his flowery language, personally I found it tedious, like the author is desperately attempting to flex his intellect. The needlessly complex writing distracts from the narrative and seldom adds any real substance. In fact, the overly-personified environment is mostly just exhausting, and half the time I had to reread paragraphs for clarity only to discover I've simply been hung up on bizarrely worded description of a sunrise or something equally mundane.
TL;DR: After 52 pages, I learned the book is an overly-flowery piece of sexist (and potentially racist?) male fantasy and I have no interest in continuing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Sexual content
Moderate: Sexism
shadowchildofhades's review against another edition
Worst book I have ever read. There were weird explicit scenes that made me absolutely uncomfortable. They were the last straw to an already slightly uncomfortable book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
apersonfromflorida's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Slavery, Vomit, and Abortion
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