Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic by Leigh Bardugo

16 reviews

emily_mh's review against another edition

dark mysterious relaxing 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? Yes

4.5

Leigh Bardugo knows how to write fairy tales SO WELL. This was creepy and atmospheric and often tragic. It was the perfect autumn read (even though it's spring where I live). My favourite story was probably the Witch of Duva. Docked a half star because I thought the first and last stories dragged a little. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, Incest, Pedophilia, Murder, Death, Violence, Self harm, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Domestic abuse, Child death, Medical content, Blood, and Cannibalism

Minor: Pregnancy, War, Alcohol, Ableism, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Vomit, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Torture, Drug use, and Suicidal thoughts

puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cannibalism, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Murder, Sexual assault, Violence, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: War

epellicci's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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? Yes

3.5

Language of Thorns is a collection of creepy short stories from the fictional countries of Bardugo's Grishaverse. These creative and sinister tales all feature links to fairy tales that we recognise, however are darkly subverted in uniquely horrifying ways. I particularly enjoyed Ayama and the Torn Wood, When the Water Sang Fire, and The Witch of Duva (which admittedly I had already read).

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Murder, Child abuse, and Sexual assault

unqualified_mc's review against another edition

dark reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Number 3 felt like a german childrens story.

Thought the last one would be about lesbian-soulmates finally accepting themselves without the need of others. We took a sharp turn to the left and got a Ursula-origin story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism and Child abuse

Moderate: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Murder

Minor: Abandonment, Animal death, Bullying, and Kidnapping

Story 1 and 2 are the more lighthearted ones. 3 involves the most brutal and potentially triggering elements and it's mostly shocking because after the previous ones it was unexpected. 4 only has a few things that involve content warnings but much less in detail. Number 5 isn't exactly a really dark telling but still not something I'd call lighthearted.

krows_ink's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

A very beautifully written collection of fairy tales.  All inspired by childhood stories, yet new and refreshing.  Somehow this book makes the flushed out world of the grishaverse even more real and enchanting.  Reading it felt as though I was stepping foot into Alina's childhood, listing to cautionary tales.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Incest, and Sexual assault

jbabbm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

I truly recommend this book if you want a peak of the Grishaverse before committing to read any of the books. These stories are great and pretty entertaining. Leigh Bardugo did a great job with these retellings of classical tales from our world.

This is also a great book to read if you have previously read the Grishaverse and feel nostalgic but aren't ready to dive back in just yet.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Violence

Minor: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship