Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Swordheart by T. Kingfisher

8 reviews

ritabriar's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted 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? Yes

5.0

The main characters are delightful, kind, and a bit snarky. I adore Halla's ability to weaponize questions and the way Sarkis respects her quickly, especially once he gets to know her. (Things do get spicy, though it's not the main focus.) Zale and Brindle are also stars of the book, in spite of their official status as support characters.

These main characters contrast with the various villains, who suffer from a severe inability to take interest in the perspective of others, each in a slightly different way.

The plot is both character- and setting-driven, in the manner of a campaign run by an excellent game master: some things happen not because the characters make them happen, but because things like this just happen here, and they might as well happen now. (To be clear, these events serve the plot or character arcs and I love them.) I'm thinking of the Vagrant Hills, especially, which are

a piece of geography that grabs travelers if they feel like it.

The Motherhood priests probably also qualify. 

As you'd expect in a book starring a magic sword, the setting has plenty of magic, which follows definite rules (though the characters don't know all of the rules and sometimes have to figure things out as they go). There are horrific mechanics to some of the magic and magical creatures, though I would not say this is a horror book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping and Sexual content

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Violence, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Murder, Body horror, and Misogyny

Minor: Terminal illness, Gaslighting, Gore, Stalking, Suicide attempt, War, and Infertility

The first thing that happens is that Halla's relatives lock her in her own room. She

escapes immediately, but does get briefly

captured again several times by various parties.

Halla's aunt tries to get her to believe that she should go along with their plans to steal her inheritance, using various nasty tactics. The couple doesn't want children, and eventually figure out that one of them probably can't have them.

amy_in_the_city's review against another edition

funny lighthearted slow-paced

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

4.0

This was overall a fun read! I loved Halla, with her curiosity about the world. I appreciated the way she protected herself by confusing and annoying people with her inane ramblings until they left her alone. Sarkis was great too. The real star of this book was Zale, the priest/lawyer. I loved them and the church of the White Rat so much. This book was so funny and the humor at times reminded me of Monty Python.

Sarkis kept alluding to some big secret he needed to tell Halla, and I was really expecting it to be something major and a plot twist. When it was finally revealed, my reaction was "Is that the big secret? That's it?" I thought Halla overreacted to that reveal as the secret had nothing to do with her at all and no effect on her life. It felt very contrived just to add in some conflict between the couple.

I liked how inclusive this world seemed to be of various LGBTQ+ identities, with one very notable exception. Same sex couples appeared to be widely accepted and to have the same rights as straight couples. The nonbinary character was never misgendered or questioned about their gender, even by the villains. This culture of acceptance integrated into the worldbuilding was what made it so shocking to me when towards the end of the book, there were several moments where the characters seemed very unaccepting  of, and even hostile towards, asexual people. Halla had an unsatisfying sex life with her late husband and described him as having been uninterested in sex in general. Sarkis vilified the late husband for this and even said he wished he could hurt him. Eventually, they seemed to settle on seeing the late husband and his asexuality as a burden. There's a lot of language that suggests ace people are broken, like saying he'd have to be "half-dead not to be interested in you" or Sarkis saying his religion has no use for someone who can't please their partner. This all felt really uncalled for. It put a damper on my enjoyment of the book and left a bad taste. It's a shame because this had been such a cozy and fun book for me, but it ended with me feeling attacked.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Suicide attempt, Violence, Death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia and Sexual content

Minor: Sexism, Grief, War, and Religious bigotry

nekoshka's review

adventurous funny lighthearted 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, and Misogyny

Minor: War, Torture, and Vomit

clarabooksit's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted 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? No

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Suicide, Violence, Death, Murder, Sexism, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content

Minor: Xenophobia and Vomit

saltycoffee's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Kidnapping, Classism, Murder, Physical abuse, and Sexism

Minor: Child death and Death of parent

valpuri's review

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Minor: Alcohol, Grief, and Vomit

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful 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

4.5

This book takes place five years after The Clocktaur War series and follows Halla, who can talk her way out of most of the dangerous situations that occurs, Sarkis, the grumpy sword/man, Zale, the non-binary priest/lawyer/clerk, and Brindle, the job-gnole that takes care of the ox.

I had a lot of fun reading this book and I look forward to everything else that occurs in this world.

Repetitions of "decadent south" and "respectable widow" were pervasive enough to essentially reach meme status for me in the it-is-so-bad-and-or-ridiculous-it-is-good-again way.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, War, Blood, Confinement, Death, Alcohol, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Torture, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Religious bigotry, and Violence

theirgracegrace's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Confinement, and Physical abuse

Minor: Xenophobia, War, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Sexism, Rape, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Body horror, and Incest