Reviews tagging 'Lesbophobia'

The Secrets We Kept: The sensational Cold War spy thriller by Lara Prescott

5 reviews

kristinj1's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative mysterious sad fast-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

Overall I just really enjoyed this book. It is this really clever combination of American and Russian history, wrapped up in a story of literary intrigue and romance. I really liked the way the book moved through. Of time, taking chunks of years and then going back and forth between the East and the west. I will admit, sometimes I did have trouble keeping track of who was who, particularly among the women in the typing pool. In the end, however, I think that was okay because they talked about themselves as a group very often. We saw this, we got together for this, we remembered this. As far as a different kind of plot line, I had never read anything about this period of time in these efforts to deliver propaganda into the Soviet union. It's fascinating to know that this sort of work to deliver Dr Zhivago back across the border into the USSR actually happened.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Death, Suicide, Miscarriage, Blood, Sexism, Alcohol, and Pregnancy

rmperash's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization and War

Moderate: Violence, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and War

Minor: Suicide, Murder, Miscarriage, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia

bibliocinephile's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.25

so the prose of this book was truly unique. it felt dense yet was a quick read, and striking that balance was really well done. however, in the middle, the plot became somewhat muddied by this desire to make some sort of esoteric prose of inner conflict. after that, the ending seemed a bit rushed for the build up of the story. the ending was the perfect amount of satisfying with a bit of a cliffhanger, and i mean hello it's gay

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Hate crime, and Sexual assault

kerrygetsliterary's review against another edition

informative mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Grief, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Animal death, Biphobia, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, and War

Moderate: Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Vomit

ashbcgc's review against another edition

dark inspiring medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization and Torture

Moderate: Lesbophobia