Reviews tagging 'Incest'

Cantik Itu Luka by Eka Kurniawan

43 reviews

deathbear's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

3.75

This book is well written. I liked learning political indonesian history through it. The female characters are the most interesting characters in the book, but most of the focus is on the men who court them. The begining of the book that focused on Dewi Ayu hooked me. When it changed narrative towards Shodancho, Kliwon and Maman Gendeng, it was a struggle to empathize with their motives...

I would read other works by this author and I definitely want to seek out more Indonesian authors.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual content

issyd23's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Unlike anything I’ve ever read - completely disgusting but also moving at times. Very clever how Eka waves in political and social history of Indo 4⭐️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, and Classism

thegodfather's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, War, and Classism

readerinthedale's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Pedophilia, Rape, Colonisation, and War

Minor: Infidelity, Miscarriage, Excrement, and Abortion

anayamembaca's review against another edition

dark funny informative medium-paced

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

4.5

The book doesn't pander to the audience, relentlessly brutal with a beautiful ending, Cantik itu Luka could definitely do with less graphic sexual assault depictions. I thought I'd give this book two/three stars but the last few hundred pages managed to render me speechless, reading Cantik itu Luka is a lot like Stockholm Syndrome, beats you into submission until you love it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Genocide, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Abortion

Minor: Incest

overlordmarco's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Rape, and Sexual assault

liagatha's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and War

raaaeanne's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Incest, Suicide, and Violence

Minor: Animal cruelty and Excrement

st0bbit's review against another edition

Appreciated the references to mythology and local terms used, especially the fact that this is the first book I've read by an Indonesian author – the history, folklore and culture of Indonesia genuinely shines through here and feels compelling to me.

However, this book seemed to rely on shock factor to draw readers in, and I only got increasingly uncomfortable as the story went on. I've read a few other reviews where they noted that this book was a critique behind Indonesia's misogynistic and sexist colonial history, but that was never very clear to me, I guess. I'm not familiar with this author's work and know nothing about him/her, so I'll do more research about that to see what this book was supposed to be, exactly. People are reduced to animals who crave sexual gratification, women are sexualised and written from a very heterosexual male gaze perspective, and I'm not hooked onto the book enough to want to read the whole thing to the end when I could google it. Would rate this 2 stars if I could.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Incest, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

urfavpunk's review against another edition

too depressing

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Trafficking

Minor: Death, Incest, Pedophilia, Excrement, Vomit, and Pregnancy