Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

13 reviews

joayenne's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad slow-paced

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

5.0

Infuriating. Overwhelming. Blazing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny

Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

mamaewalk's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring medium-paced

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

4.5

Creative, unique, and utterly badass story. Reads like a memoir. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gaslighting, Abandonment, Death of parent, and Misogyny

Minor: Cancer, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Grief, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, War, Fire/Fire injury, and Panic attacks/disorders

annie10's review

adventurous challenging emotional reflective 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism

Minor: Sexual harassment

tostita's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Sexism, Death of parent, Cancer, Abandonment, Lesbophobia, Terminal illness, Misogyny, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, and Infidelity

Minor: Sexual harassment and Physical abuse

arthur_pendrgn's review

challenging emotional tense slow-paced

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

5.0

 A novel rich in allegory and capable of being interpreted through various social lenses. Barnhill isn't shy about her agenda, but then neither were Orwell, Atwood, Heller, Vonnegut, or Huxley. And of those, only Atwood gave her characters depth. Barnhill's characters are as flat as Orwell and Vonnegut's. This book burns, but the reader can select the burning issue. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, and Violence

gkaltam's review

adventurous emotional hopeful slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual harassment

percys_panda_pillow_pet's review

challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

This book gave me trauma, and I'm only half-joking. Okay, for real though, When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill cracked open a lot of feelings and thoughts I've had all my life and especially now as an adult as I try to explore exactly who I am in this world. This book is about identity, it is about trauma, it is about rage, it is about so much more than you can put into words. 

When Kelly Barnhill wants you to believe in something, she puts her whole soul into it. By the end of this book, I was convinced that dragoning was real, and wondering why I couldn't dragon myself away, or even if I could. I know at times her metaphor can fall apart at the seams, but that's honestly what helped ground it for me. These are dragons, these are women. Dragoning can mean everything and it can mean nothing, though the latter would be unusual. Pretty much every time, that meaning made me want to cry. Often, I did cry while reading this book. And after finishing it too. It struck a chord in me so forcefully: the depiction of female generational trauma and the mixing of rage and sadness and hurt and unfairness and love one can have for their mother. 

At times, I was a bit frustrated with Barnhill's decisions throughout the book. I needed a bit more about trans people and what dragoning meant for them, and I know I am not alone in feeling like the intersectional aspects of feminism were a bit lacking, though in some ways that seems par for the course of the 50s and 60s.  This book filled me with emptiness at the lack of catharsis in some areas. There was a lot of build up and not enough resolution for me at times. Which, in some ways, feels perfect for the messiness of life, that truthfully we don't often get the catharsis we need. But I disliked the hollowness and in the end, I felt dissatisfied and want to scream, "Why?" and "It isn't fair!"

Do not look to this book to heal you, it will wring you dry. I can't wait for the day I will reread this, and pick things apart more. And maybe by then I'll have actually settled on a star rating for this book. For now, I leave that empty. This book is too much for me now. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Cancer, Death of parent, Abandonment, Grief, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, and Sexism

Moderate: Sexual assault, Body shaming, Violence, Outing, Sexual harassment, Rape, Child abuse, and Confinement

Minor: Gun violence, Transphobia, Sexual violence, Murder, Alcohol, Alcoholism, War, and Drug use

katiecentabar's review

emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

3.25

I enjoyed where this book ended up but I didn't always love the journey to get there. There were times that felt very gender essentialist and there were  moments that alluded to the ongoing Civil Rights movement. I think there's a very specific reason it was set in the 50s and I wish that had been explored more fully ie. in a way other than "patriarchy is bad". 

I would have preferred split narratives to get different perspectives on dragoning because the most compelling parts of this story were not the main character. I really enjoyed the last third of the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Misogyny, Dysphoria, Grief, and Sexism

Minor: Sexual harassment and Panic attacks/disorders

black_cat_iiix's review

challenging emotional mysterious sad slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment and Death of parent

Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Terminal illness, and Racism

Minor: Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, and Medical content

chloemakesbooks's review

emotional 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? Yes

3.75

Although I do think the end of the book could have stood to get a haircut of about 50 pages or so (typical youth fiction author feels the need to play out the entire lives of her characters) the book was an interesting foray into magical realism, with some really difficult hit-too-close-to-home moments and some beautiful passages toward the end. I wish the author had spent more time with the dragons (and clearly, she wanted to, hence the drag toward the end) but what time we did get was lots of fun. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Cancer, Xenophobia, Grief, Homophobia, Abandonment, Terminal illness, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual harassment, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Misogyny, and Panic attacks/disorders