Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey

63 reviews

angela_iseli's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Racism, Body horror, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and War

mattiedancer's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

2.75

Writing: 2.75⭐️/5 

I read this after a Sanderson kick, so maybe I’m comparing apples to oranges, but if Sanderson is apples, these are tiny mouldy oranges left at the bottom of my lunch kit as a child. The first section of the novel, despite having the highest stakes possible, was hard to care about or believe in. From there, you’re met with a slog of exposition – telling and not showing, telling and not showing, and more telling and not showing – to the point that I felt exhausted. And, while I know one of the heights of sci-fi for some people revolve around its explanation of the science in the world, I couldn’t love the overexplanation of every little piece of technology. (Also, for a book in outer space, I really had to hear a lot about these two men’s balls. Please. Never again.) 

Characters: 2.75⭐️/5

I would love to give this a higher mark, but how do you have so many characters and so few female characters that stand out? They really felt like accessories to the men: ready to make them look good, ready to be set down when the moment wasn’t right for them, and ready to be picked back up to adorn them at the end. We also follow two men who, despite trying to do their best, are so concerned with playing hero that they felt a bit fake – and incredibly boring. 

Plot: 3⭐️/5 

Did I enjoy the parts of this plot dedicated to being sexist? Not particularly. Do I have to hand it to the authors for making a story I couldn’t quite predict? Maybe. I did enjoy parts of the plot and, at certain moments, I almost started to love it. Of course, it was usually in those moments that we resorted to sexist tropes, unnecessary exposition, and/or the defilement of a woman’s body. Is there something interesting happening in this novel? Most certainly. I’m just not certain I would recommend it based solely on that.

Who Should Read This Book? 

• Fans of sci-fi who aren’t balked by a little sexism/misogyny 

Content Warnings? 

• Body horror, death, gore, grief, war, genocide, suicidal thoughts, rape, sexual assault, misogyny, sexism, murder, blood, injury, injury detail,

Post-Reading Rating:  3⭐️/5

I wanted more from it, and also so much less. 

Final Rating: 2.75⭐️/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Alcohol, Sexism, Suicide, Vomit, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Death, Deportation, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and War

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Kidnapping

jake36d's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Gore and Violence

saroreen's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Suicide, War, Body horror, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Alcoholism, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

roksyreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, and Death

Moderate: War, Genocide, and Violence

Minor: Alcohol and Alcoholism

jfuel's review

adventurous dark funny 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? No

3.5

Great vacation read. Moves fast and most chapters end on a mini-cliff hanger which keeps you reading. I found the first half of the book really interesting where everything is set up and there is a lot of mystery around what is going on. Lots of f-bombs but primarily limited to one character.

I didn't enjoy the vomit zombie/alien stuff as much. It wasn't that it was so terrifying or gross, it just felt like kind of a letdown after the big build up.

 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing

Minor: Violence, Gore, and Vomit

espea's review

adventurous dark 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Blood, Body horror, War, Death, Murder, and Genocide

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug use, Grief, Violence, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcohol, Vomit, and Suicidal thoughts

veronicadidato's review

adventurous dark mysterious 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? No

4.0

Plot is intriguing and well-crafted. It never really feels like anything is unnecessary. The mystery and politics were well made, which only added to the interesting world building.

Some characters’ motivations for moving forward felt a little on the flimsy side but overall it was fine.

If you’ve watched the TV series: the first season is pretty accurate in terms of following the book content. You just get some more insight into the characters reasonings in the book. And the book doesn’t have any on-page sex - that was just added to the TV series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness

Moderate: Genocide, Murder, Body horror, Death, and Violence

Minor: Rape, Police brutality, and Gun violence

nicastronaut's review

adventurous 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? Yes

5.0

I've not wanted to read the entirety of the rest of a series with this much enthusiasm since Harry Potter. I will not be reading anything else until I finish the Expanse at this point.
Just hands down fantastic.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, War, Body horror, and Murder

bookswithbethx's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Vomit, Murder, Violence, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Death, Xenophobia, War, Rape, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual violence, Confinement, and Body horror