Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Schwarzer Leopard, roter Wolf by Marlon James

138 reviews

maimaireads's review against another edition

3.5

This is an incredible epic fantasy, but be warned it is also very grim and at times quite gruesome. There were moments when I wasn't sure I should keep going, because violence/sexual violence are described quite viscerally, and both occur pretty frequently throughout. They're not romanticized, by any means, but not shied away from, either. That said, the characters and rapidly evolving plot were engaging and fascinating, though at times I got a little lost. I listened to the audiobook, which probably increased some confusion just cause it's harder to double back and check if I'm remembering something correctly, and may also have made the gruesome scenes seem worse than if I had read the print version, but if that's the case it's only because the narrator did such an amazing job. He brought the characters, the scenes, the adventure, and the devastations that follow the characters through the story to vivid life.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence and Violence

romiress's review against another edition

This writing style is just 100% not for me. It has all the pretentious literary trappings: copious amounts of pointless sex and violence, a male protagonist obsessed with fucking, and an overwrought writing style that makes itself difficult on purpose.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Miscarriage, and Sexual violence

holly_ey's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.5

I don't often write reviews but this book has left me reeling to the point of needing an outlet. I understand the comparisons to Tolkien and Game of Thrones but honestly that doesn't do justice to this book; all have their own brilliance but this is purely a different beast. The rage and sorrow painted throughout are visceral, the world is a red-hot fever-dream full of genuinely horrific monsters, human or otherwise (and has left me urgently needing to work on my woeful knowledge gap in African folklore), and the brutality makes it by far the darkest novel I've ever read. And yet somehow James also builds in a deeply human love story, or several really, entwining the various angles on love and complex human relationships with a violent dissection of human nature. It was hard-going at times due to the sheer density of information and images to absorb - I think it took me about five times longer to read than most books of this length - but it was worth it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Rape, and Sexual violence

t_thekla's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

3.5

last chapter slapped

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, Death of parent, Excrement, Homophobia, Incest, Murder, Physical abuse, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Vomit, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Violence, and War

lotsa bad stuff

aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

2.0

I don't think this one was for me. The cover, stunning. The content of the book, interesting in theory. The execution, was not for me. It felt too long and was a very slow read/listen. The narrator was great, but I could not keep my attention on the story to save the life of me. 
It's also pretty graphic so def look up content warnings. I won't be picking up the next one in this series even though the cover once again is stunning. I'll check something else out from this author to see if maybe it's just this book and not the author that I'm not enjoying because I've heard good things about some of his other work while this book seems pretty divisive.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual content

Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Colonisation, Alcoholism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Blood, Death, Sexual assault, and Torture

Minor: Misogyny and Excrement

debthebookworm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

I don't pay a lot of attention to book buzz, so I didn't know this one existed until a friend gave it to me.

And oh my God, what a book! I don't say many books are raw, but this just might be the most raw and definitely not for the faint of heart OR anyone looking for a quick read. This book is DENSE, and the most wild of frame stories to ever exist, as sometimes you're pulled through another frame into a nother mini-story. It got to a point where I forgot Tracker was telling this story from a jail cell and was mad when I was reminded. The way the whole story gets revealed, with its twists and heart-breaking turns, is masterfully done in a style not familiar to Western civilization, but very true to heart if you know anything about African mythology or storytelling. I would like to read more of Marlon James's work in the future!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Incest

Minor: Addiction

softanimal's review against another edition

I love the rich imagery, imaginative storytelling, and lush world-building but the level of intensity is not where I'm at right now. Strong trigger warnings come with this one. The content warnings under "graphic" occur multiple times in each chapter.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Death, Toxic relationship, Child death, Violence, Body horror, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Murder, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Trafficking, and Misogyny

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, War, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Infertility, Vomit, Cursing, Excrement, Homophobia, Incest, and Sexual harassment

Nearly all of this book is graphic violence, rape, and child abuse.

A major plot is about finding abused children and there multiple graphic descriptions of rapes as well as ubiquitous references to sex, gore, sexual violence, and physical and sexual abuse of children.

hughesie's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Sexual content

cringeisen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Torture, Blood, Cannibalism, Body horror, Violence, Death, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Rape, Cursing, Pedophilia, Sexism, Misogyny, Drug use, and Incest

Minor: Slavery and Kidnapping

minxtte's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Violence, Body horror, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Blood, Cannibalism, Death, Excrement, Grief, Gore, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, and War