Reviews tagging 'Torture'

He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan

75 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

dmteralie's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-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

I felt conflicted about whether I liked the book the whole way but I found it addicting to listen to. This book is dark and sad pretty much the whole way down. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Torture, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, and War

erinreadsbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful tense 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

Wow. A surprising but also seemingly fateful end to this epic duology. There were several moment in this book that made me audibly gasp in horror at the brutality and gruesomeness of the characters’ actions, but nothing felt out of place or inserted for shock value. The events build on each other until the tension feels almost too much and you are wondering if what you felt was fated to happen this whole time might not actually occur. There were some lulls that felt a bit drawn out but overall I was just as rapt and invested as I was in the first book. It didn’t feel like a second book but rather a natural second part to the first, and the ending was satisfying.

Although the story ending with Zhu on the throne feels inevitable and does not come as a surprise, the path taken and the characters you get to know along the way are richly developed and interesting, which keeps the reading experience interesting and worthwhile.

It didn’t seem to matter that I never truly grasped the movement of the armies or the complete geography—the focus on the characters and their motivations and interactions was engaging on its own and the characters’ intertwined arcs were logical, satisfying, and moving. 

Read if you like sweeping  political drama and brutal historical fantasy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Death, Ableism, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexism, Violence, Murder, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, and Rape

Moderate: Homophobia, Torture, and Bullying

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Trafficking, Body shaming, and Blood

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

rongrong's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

Knocked my socks off.  Deeply dark, violent, sad - almost all of the characters carry trauma and inflict trauma on others.  Ma was kind of the first ray of light in many hours of listening.  The deaths and betrayals all felt true to the characters and the direction of the story.  Everyone is flawed.  Zhu’s determination has been admirable for so long, but here she experiences the strongest emotions of her life. Her ability to change and to deeply reflect on who she is and how her actions and decisions align with her identity expanded after those experiences of strong emotion.  Ma’s explanation of the gift of following and the gift of belief in the one you followed was critical, and the changes in Zhu that allowed changes in the direction of fate really saved it all at the end.  Narrator’s pronunciation was sometimes great and other times kind of stilted and distracting, but overall wonderful narration.  Very grateful that the author chose to end Ouyang’s story in this way.  Also Zhu’s and Ma’s.  What a gift this author has, to write at so many miles deeper than Harry Potter book 7 levels of dark, and to make it so compelling to read on and learn what comes next, and next, and then.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Torture, Kidnapping, Murder, and War

isi__1's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Self harm, War, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Miscarriage, Torture, and Rape

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

lorayray's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

3.0

The graphic violence and sexual assault scenes nearly made me DNF about… 3 times. It took away from the beautiful writing and other enjoyable aspects of the book. I’m not sure if the story was worth it in the end - it was a good story, but it was quite graphic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Sexual assault, Torture, Rape, Sexual violence, and Self harm

thegabecole's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Sexual violence, and Torture

Moderate: Miscarriage and Homophobia

grace_b_3's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Rape, Murder, Grief, Violence, Transphobia, Sexual content, Self harm, Infidelity, War, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore

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.