Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

24 reviews

linda_ws's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Grief, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Death, and Cannibalism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Torture, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Slavery, and Rape

authorannafaundez's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.75

I liked this book. But I also didn't. Story-wise, it was slow and grueling and sad. Just as a book like this is expected to be. None of those adjectives are a negative.

There were odd choices in the formatting: no quotation marks when someone spoke, not always new paragraphs when someone spoke, extremely long paragraphs with no breaks besides scenes, and a strange aversion to commas. There were huge numbers of run-on sentences and fragments. These choices made the book skip a bit like an old record, or like a shopping cart bouncing over potholes.

The prose itself was excellent, but sometimes the poetry of it acted as a distraction. McCarthy seemed to struggle somewhat with a balance between experimental writing and readability. Sometimes the balance was perfect. Sometimes it was not. There was no connector between these times of "not" either, such as theme, mood, or memory.

I understand the why of the artistic style and formatting choices though: it's meant to slow you down, keep you a little disoriented and just off-step, to force the reader into the desired mood and the same patterns as the two main characters. It's done well. Really well.

Really, the formatting and readability--the way this book is written will definitely turn a fair amount of readers away--are the only reasons I gave the book less than 5 stars, because it drove me a little crazy sometimes too. But if you're up for a challenge and in the mood to be sad, I encourage giving this book a try. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Cannibalism, and Violence

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, and Blood

grankottekarin's review

dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.0

It's a really good book, thought provoking and written in an interesting way. It probably deserves a higher rating but, even if I appreciated it, it wasn't really my cup of tea

There were so many bad things constantly happening that you got kind of numb to it - but then again there's some meaning in that too

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Child death, Child abuse, Death, Trafficking, Suicide, Murder, Grief, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape, Torture, Animal death, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Vomit

rottenromance's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Slavery, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Gore, Kidnapping, Suicide, Physical abuse, Animal death, Confinement, Body horror, Violence, Sexual violence, and Child abuse

christianbluer's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Trafficking, Gore, Slavery, Child death, Murder, Death, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Physical abuse, Grief, Cannibalism, and Blood

Moderate: Vomit and Terminal illness

maulikki's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.0

I usually like stories set in dystopian worlds, and this one definitely left me thinking. To me, the book was a good balance between light and dark, I really enjoyed all the small believable moments of love and humanity inside the new bleek world. The book rarely gave any answers, and instead presented a parent in impossible situations trying their best to protect their child. I get this is not for anyone, but just for the writing alone, I could recommend this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Grief, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Slavery, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Torture, Vomit, Abandonment, Animal death, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Cannibalism, Rape, Child abuse, Excrement, Confinement, Cursing, Gun violence, Child death, Death of parent, Violence, and Murder

nadalien's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Slavery, Sexual violence, Rape, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Death, Self harm, Abandonment, Death of parent, Child death, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, and Body horror

lyfeistrip's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Body horror, Genocide, Suicide, Animal cruelty, Gore, Medical trauma, Murder, Rape, Slavery, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Child death, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Blood, Death, Gun violence, Self harm, Cannibalism, Sexism, Cursing, and Terminal illness

nb_alex's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual violence and Cannibalism

karmkeigh's review

adventurous dark slow-paced

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

3.25

While the actual topic of the book is sort of lackluster and generic, the writing style is very intriguing. There is no shortage of imagery or emotion at any point- however, conversational passages can be difficult to understand. Additionally, the ending felt unexpectedly anticlimactic. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Death, and Rape

Minor: Child death and Grief