Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

46 reviews

jella's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Habe nicht erwarte, dass mich die Geschichte so packen wird. Mein liebster Band der Reihe. Auch der (psychisch) brutalste.

Wie in den Vorgängern endet auch diese Geschichte gut, jedoch muss der Hauptcharakter auf etwas verzichten. In Band 1 war es das Augenlicht von Katsas Gefährten, in Band 2 waren es zwei Finger von Fire und hier ist es die Liebe von Bitterblue. Saf stirbt zwar nicht, geht jedoch fort, obwohl sie einander lieben und obwohl er bleiben könnte. Autsch.

Auch wenn das Ende dem nach nicht 100% zufriedenstellend war, würde ich dafür nichts abziehen. Ich finde die Entscheidung der Autorin eigentlich mutig. In der Mitte der Geschichte wäre es unnötiges Drama, aber hier am Ende wandelt es sich eher zu Realismus.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Moderate: Violence, Animal cruelty, and Torture

Minor: Animal death, Sexual assault, Rape, Child abuse, Child death, and Self harm

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional slow-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

4.0

Like Fire, this is a fairly slow moving book. While it picks up in plot towards the end, the way it's written still feels slow. However, this fits the nature of the story. Bitterblue is trying to pick up the mess her father made, and many are afraid of confronting the past. Therefore, her journey to the truth is a long, winding one.

While you can read this book without reading the previous two (I think), there's nuggets of backstory you'll miss. This book really draws all 3 together. I loved being able to see Bitterblue's journey play out, and I was honestly hooked until the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Self harm

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, and Alcoholism

Minor: Kidnapping

radreadswithrachel's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense

• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I’m so glad that reread this now as an adult. I can understand and appreciate the story I never did as a child. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Child abuse, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Trafficking, and Violence

kettijane55's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Death, Suicide, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, and Vomit

ailsaod's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I thought Graceling was a standalone so I was pleased to discover the existence of Bitterblue, then I read the first three chapters and chickened out for two or so years. I thought it Bitterblue's investigation was heading for imminent crushing embarrassment and I didn't fancy dealing with that however upon trying again I can say this book is very good and I didn't get any second hand embarrassment! 

Ultimately this book is a mystery set in a fantasy world and in the first half the questions just keep on piling up until it feels like there is no possible way to answer them all! Then some of the mysteries begin to be revealed and oh boy it gets more intense from there.

I am a little conflicted about Bitterblue as a character. On the one hand she is pretty great as she is very determined to discover the truth and wants to do the right thing and holds herself accountable when she realises she's made mistakes. However I found that the incident that starts her off on her quest for answers is not anywhere near big enough to make her so determined so quickly. Like if her curiosity could have been aroused so easily surely it would have happened sooner??

It was nice to catch up with many of the characters from Graceling and to see how they've grown up and there are a lot of interesting Monsean side characters. I especially liked Death (the librarian - his name rhymes with teeth!) and his cat, Lovejoy.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse and Suicide

Minor: Domestic abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

Most of the content warnings refer to past events, some of which are elaborated on in flashback scenes

angelareads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Self harm, and Suicide

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Violence