Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan

11 reviews

snerp_reads's review against another edition

Stopped reading after some weird choices for the portrayal of Vystrana that left a bad taste in my mouth. None of the other reviews on here mentioned this, but the entire crafting of their fictional religion was pretty obviously antisemitic. It took me a few pages to catch onto it, but it's very obvious that the Vystrana religion was based on Judaism. The religion of Vystrana in the book was portrayed as backwards, savage, and more superstitious and sexist than the main character's religion. 
I made the connection that she had based their religion off of Judaism when I came across two main details in the book; the specific detail that the villagers use graggers to symbolize their disapproval of her arrival, and a ritual the villagers have of fully submerging themselves in "living waters" (it was straight up just a mikvah).

The villagers were then written forcing the main character to take part in the submersion in front of everyone watching, and she even briefly thought they were going to rob or kill her at this point.

 
I wish authors would quit dragging in their own antisemitism into otherwise perfectly fine books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Gore, Kidnapping, and Blood

Moderate: Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Antisemitism

bitter_critter's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism

Moderate: Grief, Death, and Animal death

Minor: Religious bigotry

jonwood's review against another edition

adventurous 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

I liked this audiobook less and less as I continued to listen. Once the narrator gets her chance to go on an exploration, the book lost most of my interest as it seems to become a series of episodes and typecasting of primitive people's religions. When the

husband of the lead dies and I find it anticlimactic and leaves me uncaring something's not working

. Also, I found the narrator's voice too much like a pretentious, condescending professor for me to enjoy listening to her read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism and Misogyny

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Death, and Sexual assault

latenightnormie's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Violence, Religious bigotry, Miscarriage, and Murder

Minor: Blood, Sexual assault, and Misogyny

In general, I enjoyed the pacing of the book. It read like a autobiography but with Lady Trent's reflective musings throughout the telling of the story. The world building is solid though not terribly in-depth when not in use for the plot. All in all, I'll be reading the next book in the because series.

lunep's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Violence, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Blood, Death, Misogyny, and Murder

Moderate: Mental illness, Miscarriage, Animal death, and Classism

Minor: Cannibalism, Body horror, Death of parent, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Violence, Death, Rape, Colonisation, Cursing, and Alcohol

kalira's review

adventurous emotional tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Misogyny, Death, Grief, Violence, Colonisation, Classism, Murder, Sexism, Animal death, Blood, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Racism and Religious bigotry

meganpbell's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.0

I should have been obsessed with this book—I am totally the target audience! However, the main character’s xenophobic stance toward the village she’s intruding upon as a researcher does not change enough to give me confidence in joining her on an expedition to the version of colonial Africa in the sequel. I wanted more dragons, more science, and a more intersectional feminism. I would highly recommend Rachel Hartman’s Seraphina series instead!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Animal death

Moderate: Miscarriage, Xenophobia, Violence, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Classism, and Sexism

novella42's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

I really enjoyed the angle of writing a 19-yr old character from the vantage of an older woman publishing her devil-may-care memoir. Perhaps because of that, I liked the protagonist more than I expected. One of my favorite parts of the story was Kate Reading's performance as audiobook narrator, as she was a phenomenal fit for pretty much every character. The voices, emotion, and nuance she brought to the story gave it a rich texture that I would have missed if I was simply reading the text. (I'm familiar with her work in Sanderson's Way of Kings and was impressed how much more her voice seemed to come alive with this story. Maybe she really resonated with this story in particular?) The scientific mindset and world building were excellent, and it's always lovely to have more examples of women in STEM fields, even in the fantasy genre. I took away a star because unfortunately I'm not very into mysteries and the book's pacing was slow for me. I almost didn't get the audiobook finished before the library reclaimed it, but I also enjoyed dipping in and out of it for a few weeks. Not every story calls for a fast pace, and this one was well told.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Blood, Violence, Xenophobia, Death, Grief, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Gore, Gun violence, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Classism, Medical content, and Religious bigotry

jkpiowa's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Death

Moderate: Miscarriage, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Classism

anntharai's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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? No

5.0

I felt this would become one of my comfort books about 10% of the way in. It’s escapism, adventure, and simply wonderful. 

Shades of Amelia Peabody, but with more dragons and less detective work. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Violence, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Blood, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Classism, Gore, and Miscarriage