Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan

29 reviews

mynameisinigomontoya's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, War, Violence, Torture, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Outing, Misogyny, and Physical abuse

Minor: Abortion and Miscarriage

shibh's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

A bittersweet end to the duology. These books look at gender and the human experience of it in a way that has left me feeling exposed and crying. In a good way though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Physical abuse, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Animal death, Homophobia, Body shaming, Classism, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Medical content, Sexual assault, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Murder, Abortion, Confinement, Genocide, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Rape, Lesbophobia, Addiction, Misogyny, Child death, Colonisation, Dysphoria, Gore, Infertility, Pregnancy, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, War, Vomit, Xenophobia, Sexism, Transphobia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

spec_tacles's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

After She Who Became The Sun, I knew I would love this, but i’m still shocked by how much. I was just as immersed in this one, despite different perspectives, and the emotional payoff was huge. 

This is a 5-star read, no question. If I were Shelley Parker-Chan, I would feel so proud to have created such a dynamic work of art.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Transphobia, War, Body shaming, Death, Kidnapping, Medical content, Self harm, Child death, Grief, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Classism, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Sexism, Bullying, Murder, Slavery, Torture, and Misogyny

Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Pregnancy and Chronic illness

Most content warnings come from the fact that the story is about war, but it’s still challenging regardless, especially the torture.

spootilious's review against another edition

dark reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

 Read: December 22, 2023
 Title: He Who Drowned the World 

Series: The Radiant Emperor #2 

Genre: Fantasy / Historical Fiction / LGBT 

Rating: 4 / 5
 Review: 

I occasionally come across a book that I really struggle rating and I was shocked to find that this is one of those books. 

I came into He Who Drowned the World with very low expectations. I didn’t care for She Who Became the Sun, for a number of reason listed in my previous review. 

However, almost everything that made me dislike She who Became the Sun didn’t make it into the sequel which I am very thankful for. To be honest, I was concerned with the massive amounts of recommendations I received in regard to this series and how many awards She Who Became the Sun has won. I was praying that He Who Drowned the World would make up for what (I felt) was an extremely lacking novel. I was not disappointed. 

Parker-Chan is a beautifully talented writer (Which I knew from book 1) and tends to lean towards the very dark and morose. In fact, a bit too dark for my usual taste which may be why I wanted to give this book (He Who Drowned the World) a 3.5 and not a 4. However, Parker-Chan’s ability to write horrific imagery in a such a simplistic and straightforward manner makes the imagery all the more effective. This includes a number of sexually explicit scene, which paints sex as nothing more than a tool, punishment, or means to an end which, while I once again did not like, I can respect. The reader’s response to a story is just as much of a plot device as the sentences on a page. I was appropriately repulsed. 

I will also say that I didn’t care much for the lack of morality in ALL the characters in the novel. It left me without a ship to sail and was, perhaps, the main issue that I still hold over from She Who Became the Sun. 

All that being said, the fast pace and action-packed plot had me devouring this book, and I could not in good faith rate it lower than 4 simply due to my distaste. (i.e. the 4 star rating is more my personal rating of 3.5 and the acknowledging that some of the reasons it’s a 3.5 is because of my own personal biases against the lack of moral characters, rape, and very dark tones). 

Overall, one of the best books I’ve read this year. I will definitely recommend to individuals who love reading Dark Fantasy and Historical Fiction. 

 

 

QUOTES: 

“The most dangerous person in a game is the one nobody knows is playing.” 

“Nobody would lift a finger to change the world for us. To make a place for us. What choice did we ever have, but to do it ourselves?” 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Body shaming, Death of parent, Grief, Pregnancy, Racism, Murder, Outing, Suicide, Torture, Confinement, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Gore, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Classism, Deadnaming, Violence, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Child death, Abortion, Blood, Sexual assault, Slavery, War, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, and Sexual content

taowlette's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-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? Yes

4.5

The morally gray characters....sure were morally gray.........Couldn't put the book down but was incredibly stressed the entire time LOL. Shelley Parker-Chan strikes again with their masterful writing, but I found the conclusion somewhat rushed. I wish there were more hopeful moments scattered throughout the book, to make the conclusion more believable for me. I loved the book, I just don't know if I'm strong enough to read it again 🥹

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, Ableism, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Gore, Grief, Sexual content, Addiction, Murder, Rape, Death, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic relationship

andtheywereroommates's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Sexual violence, War, Self harm, Sexual content, Misogyny, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Grief, Rape, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Child abuse, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Miscarriage

aileron's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Violence, Grief, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Gore, Death, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, War, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Infidelity, Bullying, Dysphoria, Sexism, Confinement, Homophobia, Ableism, Miscarriage, Transphobia, and Misogyny

Minor: Death of parent, Excrement, Slavery, Animal death, Child death, and Animal cruelty

tiernanhunter's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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

Graphic: Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Self harm, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Drug use, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Torture, Violence, War, Blood, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Body shaming, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Toxic friendship

samants's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

Better than She Who Became the Sun, this book really picked up at around the 20-30% mark. I was struggling for the first part of the book, especially because I didn't remember the plot of She Who Became the Sun very well, but once I got in the groove of things it trotted along nicely.

Take a shot every time you read:

• "Hungry ghosts"
• "Trotted"
• "Behatted"
• "Curious"

Also: I think I would have liked this more if the absolute psychological torment undergone by the characters wasn't described so lushly. The prose got a little purple at times, describing people's internal suffering. It was a bit much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Transphobia, Blood, Death, Dysphoria, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, War, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Murder, Rape, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

Minor: Body horror

leonormsousa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Sexual content, Abortion, Classism, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Infidelity, Body horror, Grief, Self harm, Sexism, Gore, Sexual assault, War, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Slavery, and Violence