Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna

13 reviews

mysteryspouse's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Ableism, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Murder, Cursing, Abandonment, Colonisation, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Deportation, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, War, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Sexual violence, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Child death, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Vomit, Sexual assault, Self harm, and Dysphoria

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Excrement

kallania's review

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Please read fully before judging:

I've read a lot of books in my lifetime and I've never almost put a book down so many times in my life... from the get-go this book was sickeningly violent.. the religion in the book was simply a way to oppress the women folk in the most drastic of ways.. the main character is viciously and cruelly tortured while being emotionally abused and used by her captors... it was everything I could do to get through the section as i felt sickened for her.. 

That being said when she's freed from her would be grave the story changes into a beautifully interwoven story of treachery, betrayal, and the fight for freedom.. I loved the book by the end and couldn't bring myself to ever put it down until I finished it and couldn't wait for the next one to be published. 

This book is not for the faint of heart, if you have led a traumatic life, or know those who have, been prosecuted for religious beliefs, or been oppressed by a religion you don't believe steer very clear of this book. Honestly, if your even the type to look away during violent scenes on TV don't read this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Genocide, Religious bigotry, Torture, Kidnapping, Blood, Gore, Violence, Medical trauma, Misogyny, War, Hate crime, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Racism

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

kickitupanotch7's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, War, Torture, and Blood

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Trafficking, and Medical trauma

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Pedophilia

I thought I had the twist figured out halfway through the book, but there was so much more to it than I thought.

teabella's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Overall loved the story and how it unfolded. a bit repetitive in some parts but was very engaging! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Slavery, Violence, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual violence, Body horror, Sexual harassment, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Torture, Vomit, and War

fanboyriot's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

2.0

Honestly, I didn’t really like this book at all.  I just couldn’t seem to get into it with the characters falling flat and the stiff dialogue; the only reason I didn’t DNF is because it was an audiobook and I figured I made it half way already.

While I liked the idea of this book, fighting against a world were there was unnecessary hatred; there were just so many moments that made no sense with how the belief system worked.  Not to mention how did all the Northerns, Southerners, Easterners, and Westerners all agree all girls who bleed gold were demons but girls who bleed red were valued??  You’re telling me not one person out of all the different ideologies each group had that they didn’t noticed an issue with their system??

I don’t know if it’s because I don’t care for first person point of view or just how the book was written but I didn’t get attached to any of the characters either which is really disappointing.  However, the world building was easy to understand for a fantasy book.  It was simple and to the point.

My biggest questions though is how did no one bleed before they were sixteen?!  Women were not allowed to do “strenuous” work because they could NOT bleed before they turned sixteen years old?!

You’re telling me:

• No one lost their baby teeth until sixteen then?
• No one tripped and skinned their knee as a kid?
• No one had any medical issues until then?
• No one had bodily functions like periods until the minute of their sixteen birthday?
• That there weren’t any accidents in their everyday life that happened UNTIL they turned sixteen?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Blood, War, Sexism, Death, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Gore, Torture, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Pedophilia, Self harm, Grief, Animal death, Cursing, Religious bigotry, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Genocide, Child death, and Vomit

captainoliimar's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Violence, Vomit, Classism, Death, Genocide, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, War, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Self harm, Slavery, Torture, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, Blood, Child death, Kidnapping, and Medical content

Minor: Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Eating disorder, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic relationship

zikin's review

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

3.75

I enjoyed parts of this book, and I liked the main character/characters. My biggest reason for not giving it 4 stars is the gore. I found the graphic descriptions of violence and abuse off-putting. I will read the sequel though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Rape, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Torture, Violence, and War

queergoth_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious relaxing 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 absolutely loved this book. I could tell from the first 20 pages that it was going go be a new favourite. The world is fantastic and the characters are wonderful. I had some inkling of how the story was going to go but I really didn't expect it to turn out how it did. It was really fantastic!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Gore, Blood, Violence, War, Misogyny, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Confinement and Racism

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

h_reads98's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Murder, War, Violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, and Misogyny

Moderate: Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Animal death, Child death, Death, Rape, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Grief, and Hate crime