Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor

54 reviews

jessica_lam's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

2.5

Wealthy, hedonistic people do bad things and the poor pay for it as dog-eat-dog collateral, Kapoor writes a story mostly spanning 5 years (though with generational trauma stemming from years before) from multiple perspectives: Ajay, a poor boy from the mountains who under difficult circumstances fall into service of Sunny Wadia, the richer-than-God, once-naive only son of magnate Bunty Wadia who strives to outdo his father; Neda Kapur, an upper caste journalist who becomes romantically involved with Sunny; and then, much much later on, Sunil Rastogi, the boogeyman character who is the catalyst for the last quarter of the book through abject violence.  

While Kapoor is a good writer, the story is so dark that it's hard to push through without coming up for breath so if you're looking for something to get you out of a reading rut, this isn't it. Issues tackled include sexual violence, class, an excessive amount of drugs and alcohol, gentrification, land use, murder, etc. It's so dark as to be predictable - of course the worst case scenario is going to happen, especially if the character in person is destitude.

I also know you're supposed to feel some sort of sympathy for Sunny given the extensive chapters from his perspective (surprise: there's bystander trauma because of course the actual violence happens to the unnamed poor) and I just... don't (even Neda, to some extent, I get exhausted by). It's tough to when there are so few redeeming moments for these characters. It's honestly just a long way down of bearing witness to depravity. Blech.   

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Murder, and Alcoholism

dan047's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Car accident, Cursing, Physical abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Rape, Trafficking, Drug use, Violence, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Alcoholism, Gun violence, and Kidnapping

eringl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug abuse, Rape, Murder, Gun violence, Drug use, Torture, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Forced institutionalization, Classism, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Car accident, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Addiction

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Medical content, and Abortion

amydunning's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Trafficking, Rape, Drug abuse, Abortion, Sexual assault, Violence, Murder, and Alcoholism

cstewart88's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Sexual assault, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Abortion, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Abandonment, and Rape

courto875's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Animal death, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Alcohol, Car accident, Lesbophobia, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, Homophobia, Rape, Drug use, Sexual assault, and Violence

delipickles's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Car accident, and Murder

juliatfowler's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

There is a lot of gratuitous violence in this book. Good to read own voices but this book was too long. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Torture, Rape, Murder, Abortion, Blood, Classism, Drug abuse, Suicide, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Violence, Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Colonisation, Sexual assault, Self harm, Gore, and Trafficking

marenboek's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Addiction, and Violence

tfarfan's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Drug use, Sexual violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Classism, Drug abuse, and Gun violence

Moderate: Abortion, Rape, Suicide, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence