Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

72 reviews

chloebaboey's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Animal death, Death, Violence, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Blood, and Sexism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, and Rape

Minor: Animal cruelty

moonneedstoread's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Murder, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Grief and Violence

seekerxr's review against another edition

there's an uncomfortable amount of child abuse in this book, for me. i know different people can handle different things but the amount I've already seen, 46% in, is just too much combined with all the rest of the sexism and religious bigotry and assault. i don't doubt the rest of the book will just be more of the same and i just don't want to read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault

pnonikki's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism and Sexual assault

Moderate: Death of parent, Violence, Grief, and Death

anni_swanilda's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Suicide, Body horror, Gore, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Blood, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Self harm, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Child death, Death, and Violence

beanaroni's review against another edition

This was not really picking up for me and I particularly wasn't enjoying

how frequently I had to read about Pyotr raping Anna.

I'm going to try one of Arden's other books later. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

The main character's father marries a teenage girl and repeatedly "goes to her bed" (aka, rapes her) for, and I quote, "marital duty." The last instance I read before DNFing describes her as literally weeping and he doesn't appear to have a reaction to it at all.

moonchild_cos's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Animal death, Death of parent, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Child death, Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Grief, Pedophilia, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

hello_lovely13's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

3.25

The beginning was very slow, and for the first quarter or so of the book, half of it was not that prevalent to the book’s plot, but rather setting up for future books in the series. I was not particularly fond of this choice. The writing was very atmospheric, which I liked, but I didn’t feel the need to keep picking up the book to continue reading, so that’s why I can’t rate it too highly. I found the topics surrounding religious bigotry interesting, what with the prideful, fear-mongering priest and what not, as well as the consequences of actions persuaded by fear and the topic of offerings.

However, I do not wish we got more vengeance bestowed on the priest in the end. The irony of how he acted in the bear’s name, believing it to be God, as well as the fear of death Vasilisa put in him at the end, was quite good, though.

I am not sure whether I will continue the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Misogyny, and Child death

Minor: Sexual assault and Blood

attackrat's review against another edition

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

this book was very pleasant in some parts, and annoying in others. i was absolutely obsessed in the first 1/3, the writing is whimsical and reminiscent of folk fantasy stories, and the story at that point was full of magic and crisp winter clarity. it’s described as a folk fantasy and for parts it is. but the entire middle section is like, mixed historical fiction and horror, with needless conflicts that don’t boil down to much in the grand story. and most of what counts as a conflict is just “but you’re a woman!” I just feel like there was so much opportunity to go wider with the side-narratives, the author did a phenomenal job of incorporating real Slavic Pagan figures and practices into it but they fell flat after a while. not only that but so many characters didn’t really have reasonable motivation to act the ways they did, and they often acted against previously established traits. like Vasya’s father was repeatedly called a good man, but he beat his children and repeatedly slept with an unwilling woman. it grew tiresome. I was just disappointed, this story started off so magical and I guess just didn’t know what to do with itself. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Death of parent, Sexual assault, and Misogyny

jenny_d's review

adventurous dark 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual assault