Reviews tagging 'Incest'

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

9 reviews

lildawnprince's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence and Blood

Minor: Child death, Death of parent, Death, Incest, Pedophilia, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

sapphicsoilscientist's review against another edition

3.0

This particular edition was just really, really long. I listened at 1.4x speed just to keep from long spaces of emptiness, and there were still noticeable breaks in the story where it would have been silent for a while.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Animal death

Moderate: Sexual harassment

Minor: Incest and Pedophilia

bookcheshirecat's review

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

“She knew he was angry, but she couldn't stop laughing. "Forgive me, Po. I was only trying to get your attention." "And I suppose it never occurs to you to start small. If I told you my roof needed rebuilding, you'd start by knocking down the house.”

➽ I finally read Graceling and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it! I tried reading it about two years ago and had to put down the book, as I was bored and uninvested. Imagine my surprise when I genuinely enjoyed it this time around! I think listening to the audiobook really helped, as my library had the full cast version (I think there’s a different version with just one narrator?), that brought the characters to life vividly. The audiobook had me really engaged and looking forward to picking up the book again! 

➽ The world of Graceling is interesting but not remarkable to me. Maybe this is because the book came out decades ago and since then there have been so many great Fantasy books. Nevertheless, I loved the concept of the Graces: extraordinary skills that go beyond what normal humans can do. Graced people are always born with two differently colored eyes (e.g. Katsa has a blue and green eye) and their abilities vary greatly. Katsa is skilled at killing and others have mystical skills like telepathy, but there are also ‘ordinary’ Graces like cooking or dancing. Unfortunately, Gracelings are often outcasts and feared regardless of their skill. In most countries, they have to serve the king and are sent back if their Grace isn’t useful enough. Either they become tools for their rulers to use or are feared and regarded with suspicion. 

➽ Katsa really surprised me as a character. She’s the niece of the king of the Middluns and is used like a weapon by him because of her killing Grace. Therefore Katsa has a unique position as a skilled fighter in a world where most women don’t get the chance to learn certain skills. Given that this book was written in 2008, Katsa was a really well-rounded character that didn’t fall into the typical ‘Not Like Other Girls’ pitfalls. Despite being less feminine than is expected of her, she doesn’t scorn other women and I was glad that she bonds with a young girl in the second half of the book, as before that there aren’t any prominent female characters. Katsa struggles with her Grace and the isolation that comes with it. She doesn’t want to be a killer and takes back her agency so that no one else can use her. I understood her fears and struggles with the identity her Grace gave her. 

➽ I also loved Prince Po and his dynamic with Katsa! He’s a Graceling from another Kingdom called Lienid and has a fighting Grace that allows him to keep up with, but not surpass Katsa’s abilities. I loved their banter and how charming and funny Po could be - you just had to like him. Unlike others, he doesn’t fear Katsa because of her Grace and accepts her as she is. I loved that he never tried to change her and didn’t ask her to compromise her beliefs in order to build a future with him. It’s clear from the beginning that Katsa never intends to marry - as in this realm it’ll always give the husband power over his wife, no matter if he uses it or not - and Po understand that. They build their own relationship, free from others’ opinions! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Sexism

Minor: Incest, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, and Sexual harassment

gillian_aftanas's review against another edition

adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious relaxing 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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Misogyny, Violence, Confinement, Death, Murder, Pedophilia, Animal cruelty, Gaslighting, Medical content, and Sexual content

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Grief, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Incest, Kidnapping, Blood, Emotional abuse, Rape, Torture, and Vomit

Minor: Child death and Abortion

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, and Death

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Torture

Minor: Alcohol, Vomit, Sexual assault, Suicide, Pedophilia, Sexual content, War, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Incest, and Grief

Animal attack. Near drowning.

shadowspinner's review

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

3.5

The writing and characters were amazing in this book. However, the motivation for the villain made me highly uncomfortable and I felt like it could have been anything else. Would have been at least a 4 star book if not for that. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Pedophilia and Incest

ducklingh's review

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

One of the best books I've read in a while. I loved it! The author did a great job of getting the reader to realize the plot twists as the characters did. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gaslighting, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Incest, and Death of parent

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

the main character has numerous fight scenes which are detailed, but not overly gorey, main character is forced to hurt innocent(ish) people,

the main villain is very heavily implied to be a pedophile who wants to rape his 10 year old daughter and who raped a 10 year old servant to get to his wife - not graphic, in fact if a child were to read this they might not know what is going on

crufts's review

adventurous mysterious tense 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

In a world where some people are magically Graced with talents and powers, Katsa is a noble who has the Grace of killing. Ever since learning of her ability, her uncle King Ransa has controlled her life and ordered her to do his bidding as his pet assassin. But as she grows weary of carrying out Ransa's cruel orders, Katsa sees a chance for escape when she meets a mysterious foreign prince with a Grace of his own...

There's a lot to compliment about Graceling:

• The narrative hooked me from the start! I ended up reading the entire book in a matter of days. That's pretty rare for me!
• The fantasy setting is easy to absorb and understand; for example, the realm's kingdoms are mnemonically named (Wester = west, Nander = north, Estill = east, Sunder = south, Middluns = center, Monsea = mountains).
• Exciting, dynamic fight sequences, especially the unarmed combat passages.
• Interesting Good vs Good conflicts, where there's real tension because both sides have a point. e.g.
  Po concealing the truth about his Grace.
• Nice subversion of romance tropes when
  Katsa's childhood friend Prince Raffin
    doesn't end up as Katsa's romantic interest.
• The protagonist is exceptionally powerful, but so are the forces against her, so the stakes of the story felt balanced.
• The elements used in the later parts of the story are all foreshadowed and introduced near the beginning.

Graceling sticks to the fundamental writing principles that make a book fun to read. It's just a well-written story, plain and simple. I've docked half a star because the climactic showdown scene at the end could be improved by stretching it out longer, and there are one or two other issues, but this didn't detract much from my enjoyment overall.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Incest and Child abuse

Stacks of violence, especially from our killing-Graced protagonist.
There are a few fade-to-blacks between the romantic leads.
Some people suspect that a villain is abusing children.

A couple of villains actually try to molest children, but the heroes stop them before it happens. I consider this a good thing in contrast to other books where the villains are not stopped in time - the creepy characterization is still just as effective when the villain fails, and you avoid alienating your readers.

radreadswithrachel's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Alexa, play Cowboy Like Me by Taylor Swift

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Torture