Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal

8 reviews

lexx_caroline's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder and Racism

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexism

labtech69's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring 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? No

5.0

This book was absolutely amazing, and not just for the erotic stories. The plot was engaging and the characters were all likable but complex. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, and Murder

Minor: Homophobia, Cancer, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Car accident, and Stalking

kathrun006's review against another edition

challenging funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

The book is not an anthology. It is about women taking a creative writing class. Most of the stories they write in the class are erotic, but the plot of the book is not centered around sex.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Sexism, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Murder, Child death, Domestic abuse, Racism, Rape, Xenophobia, and Misogyny

Minor: Sexual assault, Cancer, Rape, and Adult/minor relationship

This book deals with the theme of arranged vs. forced marriage so it contains mentions of forced marriage and child marriage. The characters who were married as children are adults and widows when the story takes place, but it is relevant to the story. The only content warnings which are described in a scene are fire and fire injury and interpersonal violence. The violence described is a man attacking a woman. I have included misogyny as an explicit content warning because it is a major theme of the book, but the book is mainly about women supporting eachother and finding their voices in a misogynistic world so do not think that the book itself is misogynistic.

indiarose8's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious relaxing sad tense fast-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

3.75

Overall I enjoyed this book but parts of the plot were a bit unbelievable. The second storyline about Maya felt dropped in. I wish the writer would have just focused on the widows. I wanted to get to know them more. The writing felt a bit clunky at times but the erotic stories were beautifully written. I loved the premise. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Racism and Murder

Minor: Death of parent

m_paquette's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was inspiring and gratifying. It covered important issues and demonstrated the strength of women and the power they have when they overcome oppression. The message from this book is one that will stick with me and I would highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to read a book focused on women's rights, justice, and, of course, some erotica. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide and Murder

Minor: Sexual assault

molingou_98's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

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

3.5

This was the first semi serious book I had read in a while.  The story was really good and I loved the characters.  It was not a super light hearted book and was actually quite dark at times but it felt hopeful and told a story that I hadn't really read or seen anywhere else. While it was not the best book I've ever read it was enjoyable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence

nicolaparty's review against another edition

hopeful lighthearted slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Suicide

Moderate: Grief, Murder, and Death of parent

Minor: Car accident, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, and Xenophobia

amachattie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I love this book. I love anything that gives older women room to be full, sexual human beings. I loved that it was a romance novel and a mystery novel at the same time. I can't really assess whether the representation of violence against women within the Punjabi community was accurate or nuanced, but I felt like the author handled the topic in a way that was not just sensational or a plot device.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Violence

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Death, Suicide, and Child death

Minor: Child abuse