Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna

195 reviews

lpothan's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Rape, Grief, Pedophilia, War, Abandonment, Confinement, Genocide, Bullying, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexism, Violence, Vomit, and Misogyny

bammys's review

adventurous challenging 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Torture, Religious bigotry, Violence, Sexism, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape

yomireads's review

adventurous dark emotional 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? No

3.75

Deka is a compelling and emotionally rich protagonist, and following her evolution from meek, religiously traumatized girl, to powerful warrior inacting change is very rewarding. There are a few instances where time lapses by and the character growth isn't shown on the page, so sometimes the shift in personality feels a little unearned, but never to the point of unreality. I do wish the internal conflict and empowerment of escaping toxic self-hatred and purity-culture (literally in this case) was better represented. Nonetheless, Deka's growth makes for a gripping story. 

The plot itself initially presents itself as a generic: "kill the evil monsters and become heros" archetype, but takes the questions a critical reader might take issue with, and makes it the key component to this compelling narrative. It does present as a little frustrating to have these questions that feel almost like plot-holes (don't worry, they're not) and have the protagonist lagging behind the reader as what feels like blatantly obvious suppression of truth. Truly, the reveal by the end shouldn't have taken so long to uncover.

There are a few things I could nit pick about, but I'm holding out hope that much of my feeling of unresolved or unconfronted problems in the narrative will be addressed in the sequel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Violence, and Abandonment

yaelaed's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Blood, Emotional abuse, and Death

Moderate: Sexism, Torture, Trafficking, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, War, Kidnapping, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, and Violence

Minor: Rape and Confinement

rae_bookmarkchronicles's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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

I am so pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this. It is very dark and takes a brutal turn in chapter two but I loved all of the twists and turns. I cannot wait to read the next one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Sexism, and Death

vtruelove's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

This story is about women rising up to reclaim their power. It also has a timely theme of religion being used to control a population. It is truly one of the best books I've read in quite a long time

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Body horror, Death, Grief, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Sexism, Racism, Grief, Death of parent, and Religious bigotry

booksngrannies's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Blood, Gore, Violence, Physical abuse, War, Torture, and Death

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual violence, Misogyny, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Sexual harassment, Vomit, Sexual assault, Trafficking, and Rape

katemarie99's review

dark sad tense medium-paced

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Misogyny, Murder, Self harm, and Sexism

Minor: Suicide, Homophobia, Rape, Self harm, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Torture, and Sexual violence

whimsykat's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Slavery, Death, Blood, Violence, Body horror, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Gore, Sexism, Hate crime, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Sexual assault

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Murder, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Body shaming, Child death, Genocide, Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Gaslighting, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Trafficking, Sexism, Violence, Vomit, and War