Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

L'Incivilité des fantômes by Rivers Solomon

185 reviews

camam4's review against another edition

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

4.0


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bucketsjen's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious sad tense 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

4.0

Antebellum South, but on a spaceship in the distant future. The story centers around a autistic black woman named Aster, who struggles to deal with the unfair and nonsensical way society operates - and the secrets that she learns about the ship only amplify that until events reach a boiling point. It's not a subtle comparison to real history and real life. It's heavy, although it's managed deftly. There's a blend of things working in old ways and in futuristic ways which is very well done. 

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ominousspectre's review against another edition

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3.0

Okay Bri, I see why you did not vibe with this one. As an author writing about their own oppression, I think it you have to walk a fine line or you can end up alienating the people in your audience that bleed with you.

I love Rivers. The Deep and Sorrowland are both very dear to me in different ways. All of their style and intriguing ideas are here, but I think this would have been better as a novella? It felt endlessly long while also feeling like very little happens until the end. I did love the ending, and am obviously still a rabid follower of what this author will do next, but this debut just wasn't for me!

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bootrat's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5


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wishbea's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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benjspriggs's review against another edition

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dark hopeful 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


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orangerequired's review against another edition

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

3.25


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wardenred's review against another edition

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

4.25

Thank Heavens for their misplaced belief that only the most holy should be in charge of the direction of Matilda’s journey, as that belief led to a good many of them dying.

Looking back, I knew from the get go that this was a book about slavery set in the confines of an inescapable generation ship. I shouldn’t be at all surprised at how dark this got. Still, somehow, I was completely unprepared for the sheer brutality of this setting, and yet barely able to put the book down. Dark as fuck, yes, but so compelling.

I think a big part of the impact was the approach the author took to describing the traumatic events faced by the characters. Only rarely do the events themselves get the spotlight. For the most part, the focus is either on the build up to them, or the aftermath, or on occasion, something is described in a few sparing, detailless sentences that focus on the utter mundanity of things that shouldn’t be happening to people at all. Altogether it creates a truly chilling effect.

What I found the most striking were all the human connections forming in this utter darkness, all these people figuring out ways to be kind to each other, to learn, to find the strength for another day. Aster, Theo, Giselle, Melusine are all going to live rent-free in my head for a while now, I’m sure. Especially Aster. I loved her so much. She’s clearly some type of neurodivergent and her way of interacting with the world was so interesting to me. I’ve seen reviews saying she didn’t form deep connections because of her unemotional disposition, but I disagree with it a lot—I feel like the connections were very much there, just processed and expressed differently than is common for neurotypical individuals.

Despite all the feelings and thoughts the book made me experience, I do have some half-complaints, mostly about the pacing: I felt like the story took a long while to start going anywhere, other than just being a snapshot of an oppressive, claustrophobic dystopia, but then the ending was rushed. It’s a bit like the book started as a character/situation study and then decided to develop a stronger plot a tad too late. That lack of balance didn’t take away from the powerful delivery of the themes, but it did made the narrative harder to process.

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hazelwood's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

An absolute masterpiece. Octavia Butler would have loved this, I think. The characters are so so realistic! The neurodivergent representation! The gender nonconformity! The aspec representation! The dissection of power and trauma and grief! Not to mention the beautiful use of language and intensely detailed worldbuilding! I am gathering up Aster and Theo and Giselle and Ainy and Pippi and Mabel and Flick and Lune and I am forever holding them close to my heart where they can be safe. I only wish for another book, or an afterword, or something so I can know if it all turned out okay!!

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tatteredwings's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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