Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna

8 reviews

zombiezami's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Animal death, Blood, Misogyny, Child death, Child abuse, Mental illness, Abandonment, Colonisation, Death of parent, Trafficking, Body horror, Gore, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Kidnapping, Grief, Hate crime, Police brutality, Slavery, War, Torture, Murder, Death, Sexism, Outing, Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, and Stalking

Moderate: Excrement, Body shaming, Bullying, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Colonisation, and Vomit

colorism

mysteryspouse's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Ableism, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Murder, Cursing, Abandonment, Colonisation, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Deportation, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, War, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Sexual violence, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Child death, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Vomit, Sexual assault, Self harm, and Dysphoria

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Excrement

kimreads14's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective 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

The Gilded Ones was a great introduction to a new world by Namina Forna. 🏆

The overall experience of reading this book made my blood boil at all times. Forna's capacity to depict a patriarchal and misogynistic world that will make you question your own reality is masterful!
Forna offers a beautiful piece that pushes you to critically think about the state of our society.

The reason why I bumped it down from 5 ⭐️ to 4.25 ⭐️ is because from time to time the writing and the world-building felt a bit forced rather than carrying you inside Otera smoothly and with grace. 
Also while I understand that Deka is meant to be special among even the Alakis, the way this was depicted sometimes felt a bit borderline of a Mary Sue character. Anyone who is used to reading books of this kind will admit that the MFC tends to always be special... However, it sometimes felt like Deka was way too special for no real reason other than pumping up the character's ego instead of moving the story along. 
Finally, I was a bit disappointed with the brevity of White Hands' final explanation of who she is and why she did what she did. Parts of the story could have been shorter to give this more space, or pages could have been added. 

Overall though, this book was beautifully written and truly makes you question how 'free' you are as a woman in society. I'm excited to get back to Deka and her friends' story with the next book in the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Death, Slavery, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, War, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Grief, Racial slurs, Racism, Child abuse, Torture, and Sexism

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual violence

lizzy_elaineee's review against another edition

adventurous challenging inspiring tense 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

4.0

i read this book for one of the february prompts for the diverse baseline challenge. i loved this story, i loved the friendships with deka & all the blood sisters especially britta. i loved the slow burn between deka & keita and how he loves her regardless of any of her circumstances. i loved the found family dynamic as well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Torture, War, Abandonment, and Genocide

Minor: Colonisation, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

mj1588's review against another edition

challenging mysterious medium-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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, War, Cursing, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Gore, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Vomit, Child abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Child death, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Torture, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Violence, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, and Kidnapping

sammymilfort's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Gore, Grief, Physical abuse, Racism, War, Blood, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Colonisation, Death, Sexism, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual harassment, Torture, Emotional abuse, and Violence

chellcake's review against another edition

adventurous challenging inspiring 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Body horror, Gore, Blood, Torture, Religious bigotry, Child death, War, Misogyny, and Violence

Moderate: Racism, Physical abuse, Grief, Vomit, Self harm, Bullying, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Cursing, Colonisation, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Grief, Pedophilia, Rape, Confinement, Drug use, and Trafficking

librarybookscene's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Trafficking, War, and Xenophobia