Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson

4 reviews

hannahpings's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

a little miracle of a book. wilson does something with pacing and expectation here that i can't even begin to articulate, but is so beautifully representative of the larger point of the bird king i can't help but marvel at it. like hassan's maps, short passages contain entire odysseys in themselves, while long ones are easily (and quickly!) traversable. its ending is deceptively simple and beautiful and heartbreaking with a single, final image that feels like it's going to be burned in my head forever. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Torture, Violence, War, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Body horror, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Islamophobia, Sexual content, Blood, and Grief

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, and Medical content

jcd1013's review against another edition

adventurous informative 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

4.0

The first third of this book, I would have given it 5 stars because the characters were so intriguing and the setting was so interesting and I just devoured the book. And then it started to lose the plot and I really wasn't fond of the last third. The ending was rushed and didn't fit at all with the theme of the rest of the book. 

I loved the friendship between Fatima and Hassan; it was by far the best of the book - I love a good queer platonic relationship. I'll admit, I was hoping for a polyamorous relationship between the three main characters - it certainly seemed to be leaning that way at times. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Sexual violence, War, and Animal cruelty

krishnak's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? No

4.5

This book really sucked me in and I enjoyed it a lot. The pacing of the book was just right. The characters were very lovable, but they were still complex and flawed. The relationship between Fatima and Hassan was so beautiful and so well-written. My only qualm about the book is that the ending didn't seem to live up to rest of the book. 

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Animal cruelty

skrulls's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Gore, Violence, Rape, Religious bigotry, Grief, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Genocide, Slavery, Islamophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, and War

Minor: Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Animal death, Antisemitism, and Torture