Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Call by Peadar Ó Guilín

9 reviews

madzie's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-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: Body horror, Violence, Torture, Death, and Ableism

Moderate: Murder and Grief

Minor: Alcohol and Sexual assault

breedawnwriter's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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

4.75

Wow. This book was INCREDIBLE. I read it in two sittings because I literally couldn’t put it down.

This book is not for the faint of heart, since the content is both disturbing and mature, but I’d still recommend for older YA audiences.

If you like The Hunger Games, disturbing fae, boarding school stories, forbidden romance, and otherworldly cat-and-mouse games, you’ll love The Call. 

Just make sure you read the trigger warnings first!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Violence, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Torture, Murder, Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Gun violence, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Vomit, Cannibalism, Confinement, Cursing, and Self harm

Minor: Excrement, Pregnancy, Suicide, Alcohol, and Abortion

There are a ton of body horror/injury/deformation descriptions in this book. If you are sensitive to that, please don’t read this book. A male character attempts to rape a female character. It is a traumatic scene, but not overly graphic. It is mentioned that the male character forcibly kisses her and pushes himself against her. He also touches her boobs. There are LGBT relationships in this book. They are not a focal point, but there are references to homosexual dating, kissing, and desires.

ssc1109's review

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Four stars because I genuinely enjoyed this ride along Irish folklore with a sick, demented twist. I am excited to pick up the second book!

Only reason it's not five stars is because we don't really dive into the characters much. While it's not a deal breaker for me, I felt very much like a reader instead of immersed into the book and their characters. So it made it difficult to mourn the characters. 

This book is definitely not for young teens. There is heavy cussing, sex, sexual assault, death, so much death, gun violence towards the end and a lot of mutilation. Nothing is gory, but it's definitely twisted. 

Would likely pick this book up again in a few years. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Sexual assault and Gun violence

mermaidsherbet's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Bullying, Child death, Gore, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Gun violence, Hate crime, Cannibalism, Confinement, Colonisation, Sexual harassment, Excrement, Genocide, Grief, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

Minor: Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Islamophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, and Sexual content

bonepennies's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

I loved this book so so much!! It was definitely right up my alley.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Gore, Murder, and Torture

Moderate: Cursing, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

This book is very much not for someone with a weak stomach.

junibjones's review against another edition

dark medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Ableism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Misogyny, and Vomit

jenny_librarian's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.75

This is about as dark as it comes when you talk about faes.

I expected horror, but I didn’t expect that kind of body horror and gore. Some of it is stomach-turning, not for the faint of heart.

The Irish folklore is interesting and very well integrated. It makes you want to learn more about the Sídhe. However, I would have appreciated a glossary or a guide at the end for readers less familiar with the folklore.

One of the unfortunate downsides (and the reason I didn’t round it up to 4 stars) is the amount of misogyny, slut-shaming, ableism and bullying. The incel behaviour of Conor is part of the themes explored (and that ending was delightful), but I’m not sure if those things expressed by other characters was necessary. In any case, it’s something you need to be aware of if you want to read this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Colonisation, Torture, and Misogyny

Minor: Animal death, Fatphobia, Islamophobia, Vomit, Transphobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

s_b_b's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Suicide

outsmartyourshelf's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

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

3.0

This book centers on a very different Ireland in the future. In this past, humans routed the Sidhe (fairies) from Ireland and banished them to a brutal land. To get their revenge, the Sidhe start The Call where adolescents are taken to the Sidhe's realm and have to fight to survive the hunt. Teenagers literally vanish into thin air and reappear just over 3 minutes later (although it has been 24 hours in the fairy realm). Even those who survive and return are changed forever. Nessa has a physical disability and no-one believes she has a chance of survival but she's determined to prove everyone wrong.

This is a very dark and disturbing book - there's quite a lot of violence, and grotesque imagery. The Sidhe or fairies in this book are definitely not benevolent. They are cruel and merciless, but then again, so are some humans. It was a very strange read for me and not one I would repeat to be honest. For a book about fairies, it wasn't a magical experience. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault and Cursing