Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth

76 reviews

quiet_reader's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Drug abuse, Vomit, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Sexism, Sexual content, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Lesbophobia

haleysversion's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Classism, Rape, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Hate crime, Child death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Blood, Grief, Suicide, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Biphobia, and Outing

seaweedmonsterletmego's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I truly loved this book throughout reading it. The characters weren't all lovable but they were all interesting and I was absorbed into learning what happened to them. And as a queer person I do love that all the characters in this book did fall under that umbrella ( do wish this was more varied, but in a world where this normally doesn’t happen Im happy it did for this book) I found the horror scenes pretty off-putting but not scary which was what I was looking for. I also really enjoyed how the plot and mystery was developed through all of the different perspectives and the timelines. 

A couple of the issue that may be a problem for others is the slow read with a passing problem. It is a long novel and the first half of the book drags out a lot of the present timeline while the last quarter seems to move tif you like. If you like solid endings this book won’t be fire you. A lot of the mystery was left unsolved and in a way  that (in my opinion, dear Reader) was not executed well and made certain storylines seem unnecessary or less important. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Body horror

Minor: Sexual assault and Drug use

There is a single paragraph near then end of the book that involves sexual assault. The woman was able to escape. One of the characters is doing drugs in every scene he is in. All together that’s about 5 pages. Much of the book describe pretty upsetting deaths that include a lot of physical damage like horrible bruising that causes face deformities.

erikam429's review

mysterious tense slow-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

2.5

if i was just reviewing the 1902 plot it would probably be more like a 3.5 bc i loved that plot and those characters

but it wasn't and it was so so so long without that much payoff - to be fair it took me forever and a day to read so that might be affecting my rating

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual assault

beccaand's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Body horror, Grief, Child death, Gore, and Death

Moderate: Suicide, Lesbophobia, Vomit, Homophobia, Drug use, and Sexual assault

Minor: Pregnancy, Forced institutionalization, and Fatphobia

kennnyreads's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.5

a bit predictable at times, which is really saying something coming from my clueless ass, but still a very enjoyable queer gothic metafiction story!

i did the think the ending was a bit abrupt, i was hoping for more of a resolution but i’ll make peace with the open ending we got. as far as open endings go, i thought this one was nicely done.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault

celery's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Car accident, Child death, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Animal death, Cursing, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Blood, Suicide, Violence, Body horror, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Stalking, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Vomit, and Sexual harassment

pjdotcom's review

dark funny lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Death, Grief, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Sexual assault

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

sauvageloup's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

glad to have read this, because the concept is fresh and interesting, and I need to read more wholly sapphic books. but it tried to do too much and didnt pull it off.
this review on tumblr by flying-elliska has all my thoughts well said:
https://www.tumblr.com/flying-elliska/672822130083233792/and-now-for-sapphic-reads-time-the-sequel-tm?source=share

pros:
- the setting was a fleshed out character in itself and I loved that. the orchard apples, the tower, the orangerie, the beach, etc.
- I liked the story of the original woman, simone, who lived on the land.
- some imagery was definitely creepy and disturbing, especially eating wasps.
- the main characters were interesting, and I liked that they became a poly triad rather than a love triangle.

cons:
- too many characters, too much rambling, too meta, too plotty and just too long.
- I never really got truly creeped out. it just didnt sink deep enough into that and there wasnt enough real danger. the deaths were distant and over fast. didnt feel that sad at any of them.
- more interesting to see more flo and Clara for sure.

a different read for sure and I'm glad I read it, but disappointing and a bit slow too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexism, Death, Infidelity, Cursing, Animal death, Body horror, Grief, Death of parent, Bullying, Child death, Alcohol, Murder, Misogyny, and Fatphobia

Moderate: Body shaming, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Vomit, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug use, Terminal illness, Classism, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Drug abuse, Addiction, and Suicide

lili_geek's review

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Story plot: the impact of cursed land over generations, with the focus of the storyline on queer women. 

Pros: unreliable narrative, the progression of the curse, difficulty identifying what is manufactured and what is real. 

Cons: the narration of the story often came across as preaching and annoying, constant POV shifting. 

My overall vibe about this book is idk. While I read it and after I finished it, I still don’t know what I think about this book or if I like or don’t like this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Minor: Sexual assault and Violence