Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan

70 reviews

helfire124's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Blood, Body horror, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Medical content, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Drug use, Misogyny, Vomit, Infertility, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Violence, War, Gaslighting, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Outing, Rape, Self harm, Slavery, Torture, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Ableism, Classism, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, and Homophobia

caidyn's review against another edition

challenging 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

3.75

I enjoyed this better than the first book and definitely was more interested in the characters. But, still, I just didn't feel super attached. I enjoyed the retelling of the Ming dynasty's creation and how it was queered.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Sexual content, and Homophobia

lizzisok's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

much darker than the first one, but i enjoyed seeing Zhu reflect more on their choices and how it changed them throughout the book. i really enjoyed this sequel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Murder, Sexual violence, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Grief, War, and Death

Minor: Vomit and Torture

dreamer626's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.25

I wanted to punch a couple of characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Misogyny, and Violence

cass_ward's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Grief, War, Miscarriage, Murder, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Violence, Classism, Torture, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Animal death, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Body shaming, Confinement, Infertility, Slavery, and Suicidal thoughts

jes312's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I loved the first book, but had a harder time with the second installment (partially because this is much darker--see content warnings). There are more POV in this book, which I wasn't as invested in from the first book, and because of that, I felt like it bogged the story down. I loved that

Zhu and Ouyang teamed up

and I wanted more from Ma's perspective, especially given how instrumental her story is in the last part of the book.

I know this is a duology, but I kind of wish there was a third, so we could see if

Zhu lives up to expectations as Emperor. Was all the sacrifice worth it?

Not knowing anything about the Ming Empire, I was left wanting more and the story feels unfinished.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, War, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Violence, Body shaming, Death, Outing, Gore, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Child death, Grief, Rape, Slavery, and Torture

Moderate: Abortion

Minor: Abandonment

ginabelle's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

5.0

I could not stop thinking about this book. I really took my time with it as I LOVED the first one and knew it would get complex to wrap up all the leftover plot lines. This book is absolutely NOT for everyone, but the political intrigue, the questions of identity and ambition, and the world building was definitely for me. I’m so thrilled with how this series wrapped up and while my only complaint is those last 5 pages seemed to feel a tad rushed, this duology feels like the most epic fantasy from an extremely talented writer. I don’t know how they keep this all in their head, but I’m so grateful they shared their stories with the world. Check content warnings for sure, but if you like Game of Thrones, Mulan, and (dare I say) Avatar the Last Airbender, look into this one. I love it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Cursing, Homophobia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Murder, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Classism, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Biphobia, Confinement, Mental illness, Deadnaming, Lesbophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Acephobia/Arophobia, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Animal death, Cursing, and Toxic friendship

laguerrelewis's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

3.75

I kind of wish this book was split into two, and this series was fleshed out into a full trilogy. The pacing meant that a lot of major developments and plot resolutions ended up feeling anticlimactic, and I would’ve loved more time living in the second act of this story. There is a lot to love here, especially if you enjoyed its predecessor, but I was a bit disappointed in how this story ended.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Rape, Abortion, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Confinement, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Torture, Blood, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Homophobia, Murder, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, and War

roxy_reads_romance's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, and Sexual content

themdash's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Grief, Infertility, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Ableism, Blood, Sexual assault, War, Death, Body shaming, Sexism, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Colonisation, and Violence