Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Theft of Sunlight by Intisar Khanani

11 reviews

josisteacup's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

The best books are those you finish in only one or two days and you stay up until 1pm, not thinking about having to get up early and when you fall asleep you continue the plot in your dreams. This is one of those books. I immediately ordered the sequel. It's supposed to arrive tomorrow and I'll probably finish it very fast.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Slavery, Child abuse, Trafficking, Ableism, Confinement, and Violence

Moderate: Medical content, Child death, Death, Blood, and Grief

Minor: War, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Child death, and Domestic abuse

farfetched's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I started this book a long time ago, then realised it ended on a cliffhanger when I read the blurb of A Darkness at the Door, the sequel, and put it down again. Now I'm trying to read more, it was high on my list of things to read first, and I'm very glad that I've managed to finish it. 

I really love Rae. She is disabled, but she is strong, fierce and clever. Her disability does mean that she cannot do some things as well as other people, but she does her best. Her loyalty to her family, especially Nita is really harming, and her grappling with her new environment was fascinating to watch. The turns were foreshadowed well - I felt that I only caught some of them a little before they happened, if at all. 

This book does directly deal with slavery, more like modern slavery as mentioned in the afterword, and this has a slightly darker tone than Thorn, but it is excellently written, and I'm excited to see Rae get out of her situation and prosper! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Slavery, and Trafficking

Moderate: Confinement, Child abuse, Blood, Death, and Kidnapping

_rowantree_'s review

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Slavery, Ableism, Child abuse, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Sexual violence

natashaleighton_'s review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Slavery, Ableism, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, and Death

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Confinement, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Rape, Sexual violence, and Grief

bananja's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Trafficking

Moderate: Ableism

unquietlibrarian's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring lighthearted 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? No

4.5

I have been reading Intisar Khanani's Dauntless Path series avidly since I first heard about Brambles in 2020. I held off on reading this book until I found out when the 3rd book was coming out because I love reading series as close together as possible. I was okay waiting between Thorn and The Theft of Sunlight because the main character is new, and the story is a continuation within the world instead of a direct sequel following Alyrra's story.

I liked that I could really get into the story, and enjoyed the various twists and turns that Amraeya encountered. The Theft of Sunlight packs a decent amount of plot into a very reasonable amount of pages without coming off as rushed or glossing over any details. I thought the book's overall tone was enjoyable, with a good balance of slower character-building narrative and action scenes. There is also a nice touch of humour which makes the book more light-hearted than the summary would lead you to believe. Some of the subject matter is a bit darker, but I feel like it was handled tastefully.

You can read my full review here.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse and Torture

clarabooksit's review

adventurous emotional 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Trafficking, Ableism, Kidnapping, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Sexism, Classism, Slavery, Death, and Child abuse

Minor: Grief

lacunaboo's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring 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? No

4.0

I really appreciate Rae as a character and the themes of this story. I did enjoy reading it but for two things for which I am partially to blame: I failed to read the author's comments here on Goodreads, so went into this having no idea it wasn't going to be a complete story in and of itself, with a cliffhanger ending; and I think it would have been a good idea for me to have reread the companion novel (and even the companion short story) before diving into this one. You don't need to read those first to understand this book, but I had managed to forget some plot details that would have been helpful to know. But mostly, I remember being really into the idea of a romance with a certain thief after reading "Thorn", and it turns out I should have rekindled that before jumping in, because here I was just not that into it. A reminder of why I had wanted to see that happen might have helped.

Looking forward to the next part of Rae's story!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Slavery, Trafficking, and Violence

cchu1215's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse and Slavery

erinsbookshelves's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Murder, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Blood, Slavery, Child abuse, Violence, Emotional abuse, and Death