Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

Madam by Phoebe Wynne

21 reviews

lynette_reads's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, Murder, Gaslighting, Rape, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, Death, Suicide, Sexual assault, Confinement, Child abuse, Child death, and Classism

rosieposie_5_'s review

dark slow-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Racism

fuzzythealmighty's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

Here are just a handful of the issues in this book:

1. It misrepresented itself in its synopsis. This book advertises itself as a "modern gothic" but it take place in the mid 90s which is now far from modern. It also is not as dark or atmospheric as it claims.
2. There are many many inconsistencies in the book. Most of these are inconsistencies in characterization, but there are some in the plot which makes it difficult to suspend disbelief. For example,
   The fact that the school new the details of Rose's father's death, which Rose and her mother tried to keep hidden, but not the fact that Rose's mother was an outspoken feminist.
3. The book has a very narrow conceptualization of dark academia.
4. Arguably, the worst bit of this book is it's fake feminism. This book was lauded as feminist literature, again a misrepresentation, when the feminism in it is very underdeveloped. It lacks intersectionality. The mentions of sexuality and race in this book are not explored in a meaningful way. The cast, and tone and ethos and etc., of this book was exceptionally white, cis, and straight. It didn't address these issues brought up in the book enough. Rose was raised by a prominent feminist but disliked feminism. I also felt she was exceptionally judgmental of other women. Many Greco-Roman stories were used in this text and the author did not discuss actual current feminist critiques of this text. The discussion around autonomy and choice was honestly disheartening. She basically describes women having no choices as a good thing that changed history. 
5. Finally, there were so many issues that this book could have touched on that it didn't including: colonialism, socioeconomic status, autonomy, cultural transfer, education, and the meaning of indoctrination. I know that this book technically discussed class, but it was done in such a way that it didn't explicitly critique how wealth is hoarded and maintained by taking from other people.

Anyways, don't read this. There are better dark academia books out there.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexism, Rape, Racism, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Homophobia, Confinement, Child abuse, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Abortion, Mental illness, Gaslighting, and Chronic illness

frecca95's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Trafficking

ashlee_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, and Sexual content

Moderate: Abortion, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness

sarabook's review against another edition

I don't want to read about gratuitous child sexual abuse and paedophillia

Also the main character is horrendous. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Lesbophobia, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

bookaddictkatie's review

dark slow-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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, and Child death

viktoriawithakreadsbooks's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Racism

kaylasbookishlife's review

dark medium-paced

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

1.0

I didn’t really know what to expect out of this book. I kept reading just to figure out what the big event would be but honestly I should have stopped way sooner.

Rose is a very annoying character. I found her emotional reactions mixed up. For some events when she probably should have spoke up or said something she was incredibly passive and at other times when it was obvious she should keep it to herself for a bit she was so aggressive and and careless. Like read the room girl!

There was an issue with one of the students and like she literally had no sympathy for the poor girl until they used one of the “punishments” on her. It was odd because Rose is supposed to be a feminist and a modern woman who cares about LBGT rights and mental health but she seemed very passive about it when it was happening until it was too late.

Okay so aside from the main character there were some major issues I had with this book. One is that the author kept using “the Asian girls” over and over again until finally about halfway we learn that they are actually Japanese. Like why not just say that from the start?

I found that the author made all of the characters who identified as LGBTQ evil or bad. It was very strange and did not sit well with me. Meanwhile the main character was sympathetic towards the straight male teacher who in my mind was not a victim at all and yet was portrayed as “a victim of the system”. I’m sorry what? No he is an adult and what he did was truly wrong.

There was unnecessary disturbing scenes with adults and the students. Please be warned about teacher/Student relationships and pedophilia.

It was all around a no for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Death, Cultural appropriation, Child death, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Abortion

jamesflint's review against another edition

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, and Child abuse