Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Difficult Women by Roxane Gay

44 reviews

river23's review

challenging dark emotional sad

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Miscarriage, Infertility, and Pregnancy

loverofeels's review

dark

5.0

absolutely devastating

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Rape, Child death, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Stalking, Infertility, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Infidelity

dernichtraucherin's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Rape, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

siobhanward's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

3.0

 Like all short story collections, some stories were better than others. As is Gay's typical fashion, a lot of them were hard to swallow and told sad stories. Definitely heed the trigger warnings for this one, there is a lot of heavy content. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Child death, and Car accident

Moderate: Sexual violence, Miscarriage, Infertility, Pregnancy, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Fatphobia and Medical content

angelbabe_cj's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

The book overall and the writing is excellent. It is also very intense. One you might decide to dip in and out of rather than read back to back. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Child death, Rape, Infertility, Car accident, Sexual content, and Racism

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Eating disorder, Alcohol, Animal death, Body shaming, Grief, Infertility, Medical content, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Car accident, Classism, Gore, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Blood, Confinement, Death, and Gun violence

Not all warnings apply to all stories in the collection. I've done my best below to list what is included in each story. I did make notes as I read but I know I missed some things.

I will follow you: pedophilia, sexual abuse, confinement, panic attacks/disorders Water, All its weight: child abandonment The Mark of Cain: pregnancy, infidelity, child abuse, sexual violence Difficult women: sexism FLORIDA: eating disorders, sexual content, racism, classism La Negra Blanca: sexual content, stalking, explicit rape, violence, racism, racial slurs Baby Arm: sex, violence How: brief violence, alcoholism Requiem for a Glass Heart: sexual content, infidelity, stalking? body horror? In the Event of my Father's Death: sexual content, infidelity Break all the way down: child abandonment, explicit child death, car accident, grief, infidelity, physical violence, sexual violence Bad priest: sexual content, religious trauma Open marriage: sexism, toxic relationship? A pat: classism, Best Features: fatphobia (some internalised), sexual content Bone Density: sexual content, infidelity I am a knife: blood, guns, animal death, miscarriage, birth, medical trauma, pregnancy, alcohol, car accident, gore The Sacrifice of Darkness: suicide, death, bullying, death of parent Noble Things: war, injury, medical content, gaslighting?, sexual content, toxic familial relationship Strange Gods: explicit rape, explicit child loss, sexism, racism, medical trauma, blood, hunting/guns, misogyny, infertility?, gaslighting

kia_y_k's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Medical content, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Cultural appropriation, Death, Cursing, Animal death, Child death, Car accident, Classism, Eating disorder, Grief, Infertility, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Stalking, and Violence

megmoore123's review

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

msales's review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Sexual assault

davisbb's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Violence, Alcoholism, Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Trafficking, and Vomit

victoriarad's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

1.0

Made it about halfway and I just had to allow myself to call it quits. It was too gruesome, depressing, uncomfortable, every awful topic explored in this dark world we live in.
And I understand how some things are meant to make the reader uncomfortable but sitting there wincing, in pain, having a visceral reaction and feeling just plainly icky is not any kind of reading I want part in. Was it dang good writing? Yes. Effective? Yes. But not my taste at all. Life's too short to suffer through something that makes me sick. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship