Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Clockwork Girl by Anna Mazzola

6 reviews

yunuspapilio's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Slavery, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Vomit, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Torture, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Child death, Death, Racism, Sexual violence, Stalking, Violence, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Misogyny, and Murder

Moderate: Blood, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Classism, Adult/minor relationship, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Confinement, Alcohol, Colonisation, Addiction, and Alcoholism

clairew97's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Body shaming, Death, Sexual violence, Violence, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Excrement, Grief, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Blood, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

sehwa's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.75

I picked up this book in the library because the cover was beautiful and the synopsis sounded interesting. Sometimes, it's good to judge a book by its cover! Anna has a beautiful writing style throughout the book. I really took to madeline and veronique as characters, they were lovely. Every character has their own tragic back story which fit with the times. The mystery parts of this book were very good, it keeps you on your toes guessing until near the end of the book. However, I really loved the unlikely friendships that grew in such horrible circumstances. 
Overall, it was a very well rounded story with a good murder/mystery element to it. I definitely think it's worth the read if you like darker subjects :) 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore, Kidnapping, Medical content, Pregnancy, Classism, Emotional abuse, Grief, Pedophilia, Rape, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Slavery, Blood, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Violence, Murder, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

panikos's review

mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

A fascinating, immersive read that delves into a period of history that I knew very little about. Mazzola's sense of setting is unmatched - she conjures up 1700s Paris with such vivid clarity, and she doesn't hold back in painting it as filthy and unglamarous. In many ways, the setting is the best part of the book, but that isn't to say the plot and characters are bad. The story is intriguing and somewhat difficult to predict, and I like that we are left constantly uncertain as to whether there is something supernatural afoot. The characters, while they didn't completely get under my skin, are all interesting enough to root for. 

I did feel that the ending was a little pantomime, and somehow anticlimactic. The author just about pulled it off, but I'd been hoping for a more gasp-inducing twist. While there are certain elements of the plot that took me by surprise, I did see a handful of key things coming - not enough to seriously hurt my enjoyment, but enough that I wasn't totally blown away by some of the bigger revelations. There's so much intrigue built up throughout and I'm not sure the conclusion totally lives up to it.

But on the whole, it was a good read, and I'm likely to check out Mazzola's other books in future. The cover of this one is absolutely gorgeous, too, so I'll be keeping it on my shelf. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Death

alireads's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death, Murder, Child abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Pedophilia, Police brutality, Rape, Slavery, Trafficking, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Vomit

lucymosscrop's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Murder, Child death, Child abuse, Blood, Death, Grief, Gore, Medical content, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Slavery