Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Yours for the Taking by Gabrielle Korn

6 reviews

k_shimer's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Pregnancy, Classism, Confinement, Gaslighting, Medical content, Mental illness, Sexism, and Sexual content

Moderate: Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Addiction, Infertility, Lesbophobia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Alcohol, Blood, Cancer, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Biphobia, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Racism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, and War

pm_me_book_recs's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

This need to be on every #GirlBoss book shelf...

A lite scifi criticism of white femme power spaces, the danger of trans exclusion and generalization of gender, and how the future must be inclusive for humanity's survival. Dashes of romance, mystery, thriller, and corporate intrigue. The story switches perspectives between a handful of characters, each experiencing different facets of The Inside, over the time span between 2050-2078. There are some steamy sapphic moments, but mostly the romance element is slow burn.

It was refreshing to see a white author tackle these subjects with care, earnestness, and precision. This type of call-out should not always fall onto non-white, non-cis/het folks!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Transphobia, and Confinement

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Racism, Sexual content, Ableism, Mental illness, Eating disorder, and Grief

Minor: Alcohol, Death, and Suicidal thoughts

dykebakery's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Forced institutionalization, Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Grief, Suicide, and Medical trauma

wornpagesandendlesscoffey's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

Yours for the Taking takes sapphic novels and redefines them. I can imagine its characters asking 'Bechtel test? How primitive.' This book asks the question 'What if a white feminist is given supreme power and authority'- and the results are as disastrous and disturbing as you can imagine. In a world ravaged by climate change, a world destroyed by raging storms and too high temperatures, innovators create "Inside"; a safe zone for the select few financed by the world's billionaires. The story follows a group of women as they navigate this new world, the betrayals, love, and heartache they experience; and how dangerous a lack of intersectionality can be. This one is one to watch, and an important commentary on our social and personal dynamics in an ever changing world that never truly has our best interests at heart. A gripping narrative about power, race, and identity- and how even at the end of the world we divide and oppress each other. And what happens when we say enough is enough.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Racism, Slavery, Suicide, Death of parent, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, Ableism, Classism, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Pregnancy, Rape, Transphobia, Addiction, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Drug use, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Death

bootsmom3's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Death, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, and Transphobia

Moderate: Alcohol, Sexual content, Ableism, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

nukie19's review

adventurous dark reflective sad 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? Yes

3.75

This is a really thought-provoking look at a near-future world and how the goals of creating a community without the patriarchy is a more complex problem than it originally appears.  Korn does a good job of really breaking down the simplistic view from the billionaire funding the project - an older, wealthy, cis-hetero, white female - about how to create this reality by just eliminating men from the picture.  Touching on topics such as the gender spectrum, power imbalances, trans-rights, bodily autonomy, and more, this book probably isn't for everyone who isn't ready for that kind of political statement along with their speculative/climate fiction.  It can be at times a little simple and obvious with the themes, but overall I think it would make a great book club read to open discussions on these topics.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an ARC through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Transphobia, Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicide, Confinement, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Alcohol, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Drug use