Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Seven Devils by L.R. Lam, Elizabeth May

9 reviews

gxbi's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, War, Xenophobia, Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Slavery, Gore, and Torture

Moderate: Child abuse, Vomit, Blood, and Medical trauma

hanz's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No

3.0

There were some interesting elements to this book, but I found it was often difficult to distinguish the perspectives from each other. It was incredibly slow initially, but I enjoyed it more when the other characters were introduced. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Physical abuse, Death, Child abuse, and Colonisation

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Panic attacks/disorders, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Genocide

_teoeo's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

3.75

That was...a ride. The idea was really good but the execution was just okay ig. The characters and plot had great potential but the pacing was kinda off. The middle part was so slow and for most of the time I didn't know where the plot was heading. That made it difficult to be totally invested in the happenings. Also, the romance was too rushed

I mean, talking once and boom they're in love? Meh

 
Two of the big plottwists at the end were kind of obvious if you paid attention (to the story and the cover *cough*) so they didn't surprised me. 

But overall I thought it is a good book and if you enjoy queer science fiction this isn't a bad pick.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Death, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Child abuse, Slavery, Blood, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Mass/school shootings, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, War, Xenophobia, Murder, and Terminal illness

Minor: Incest

nickoliver's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Colonisation, Murder, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, and War

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Torture

relin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional medium-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Colonisation, Gore, Death, Child death, Death of parent, War, Child abuse, and Abandonment

Moderate: Slavery, Genocide, Stalking, Outing, Grief, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, Chronic illness, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Torture, Alcohol, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, and Cursing

Minor: Transphobia, Kidnapping, and Addiction

allisonwonderlandreads's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful 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

Seven Devils features an undercover team of women seeking to bring down an empire and maybe go to a ball while they're at it. There's a great heist moment as well as battling in space, commandeering imperial ships, and investigating secrets be they hidden on backwater planets or in imperial palaces. This was a smooth, cinematic reading experience with snappy action scenes and the vivid, unfamiliar locales that make space operas so enticing.

All our leading ladies have their voices heard in this adventure. The POVs are distinctive and well-developed, providing insight into how each found the resistance and what wrongs the empire did to bring them to this risky endeavor. There's one pleasant sapphic romance just starting to blossom, but the majority is focused on the found family bonds that form among the crew. Each connection point is poignant and delivered convincingly. I also want to shout out the ace representation in Ariadne, hacker extraordinaire, genius, and absolute ray of sunshine. There's also a badass trans woman who I think we'll see more of in the sequel.

In terms of world-building, I think fans of the genre will find it light and approachable. The book makes use of science fiction standbys like AI and mental conditioning/brainwashing to add some further moral questions to the struggle against a massive, dominating imperial power. I look forward to seeing how the plot develops in the sequel, and I am excited to get to know the two late additions to the team much better. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual harassment, Slavery, War, and Transphobia

starccato's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Colonisation, Murder, Medical content, Gun violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Genocide, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Blood, Body horror, and Slavery

Minor: Vomit, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Gore, Death of parent, Drug use, Alcohol, Torture, and Terminal illness

melaniereadsbooks'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

5.0

I absolutely adored this queer space opera! If you are a fan of Star Wars, I definitely recommend giving this series a try.  There are so many unique characters and the plot is killer! My favorite plot line was Eris but I won't say much about it because of spoilers.  I really loved the idea of the Empire and the fact that all of the "lab-grown" children have to fight to the death to become the heir and the spare! That was brutal and gruesome, but so so interesting to read.

I loved the character development between all of the characters and being able to read a little bit about some of their pasts as well as their presents. I definitely thought the before storylines were good chapters to include!

Also, just....Ariadne. Enough said.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Gore, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Body horror, and Torture

nakutski's review

adventurous challenging dark funny hopeful tense slow-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

3.75

Mixed feelings about this one! So a 3.75 rating overall from me.

Things I liked: 
1) Variety of characters and POVs.
2) The fact that the writers managed to maintain a clear and cohesive narrative despite the many POVs. 
3) QUEER REP. All the unashamed queerness and friendship and camaraderie. 
4) A very readable writing style.
5) Intricate but not overcomplicated world building.

The pace was a bit hit and miss for me. (I may be in a reading slump.) At times I found it quite slow. At times I also wished for a little more depth and detail, more hooks to really get me in there to connect. I found the first 2/3 interesting but eventually started to think that it was all a bit... too easy? The last third of the narrative really picks up and surges. So on the back of that, I look forward to the second book. I want to see how things unfold.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Torture, Physical abuse, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Death, Blood, and Body horror

Minor: Sexual content