Reviews tagging 'Rape'

La Fiesta del Chivo / The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa

12 reviews

paigeturner26's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Extremely good writing but it left me wanting to take up cigarettes and have smoke breaks between every chapter to relax. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Vomit, Murder, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Violence, Genocide, Emotional abuse, Dysphoria, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Alcohol, Gore, Police brutality, Torture, War, Rape, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Gaslighting, Suicide attempt, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Cannibalism, Death, Excrement, and Physical abuse

This is not a for fun book.

gabi_tron's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

Graphic: Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Body horror, Classism, Colonisation, Murder, Suicide, Rape, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Police brutality, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Torture, Sexism, Racism, Gun violence, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcohol, Vomit, Kidnapping, War, Bullying, and Excrement

emily_madcharo's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Torture, Murder, Racism, Violence, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Police brutality, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Infidelity, Suicide attempt, and Genocide

eleni14's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Torture, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, and Death

amvs1111's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Rape, Violence, Gore, and Sexual assault

juanis450's review against another edition

dark informative tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Violence, Murder, Death, Physical abuse, and Gun violence

m_m_tucker's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Pretty gruesome and brutal 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Torture

zgriptsuroica's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

mgerboc's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.5

A gut punch of a book.  An historical fiction set in a few different eras (the end of Trujillo-era Dominican Republic, reminiscences of earlier years in the regime, and in the mid-late-90's) and told from varying perspectives (fictionalized Urania Cabral, Trujillo himself, and the actual individuals involved in his assassination) reflects on the nature of authoritarianism, power, machismo, and sex in a pretty devastating way.

Vargas Llosa (himself a somewhat controversial figure) does an incredible job of stripping away the veneer of the cult of personality surrounding Rafael Trujillo, exposing him for the power-seeking pig that he was, and demonstrating the spineless sycophancy of the supposed greatest minds of the nation surrounding him during his reign of terror.  After time, the consolidation of power, backed by the threat of horrendous and violent reprisals, casts the focus of that power into an ever-devolving state of self-righteousness and easy justification for all actions because there are no consequences.

I think what was done superbly well was the telling of the small, individual stories of the victims of this system, and the long-lasting effects it had (and still has) on people.  This sort of corruption is not only political and economic, but emotional and spiritual.

About halfway through you figure out how it's going to end, and it's no less heartbreaking for that.  The narrative structure allows for a taught, dread-inducing story that makes the reader (or at least me) think - what kind of system do I live in and how does it shape who I am?

Anyway, if you're a fan of historical fiction, Cold War politics, Latin American history, drama, reflections on family/power/sex, etc., definitely give this a read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Rape, and Torture

hannahlamond's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Torture, and Genocide

very upsetting and graphic content throughout