Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline

11 reviews

oakmoss's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Animal cruelty

_fallinglight_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

This book wasn't what I expected bc I thought it was gonna be more on the traditional, melancholic missing persons stuff (Book Riot misleading recs strikes again for me lol) but this is a fantasy almost fairy tale like adventure with Indigenous culture and issues thrown in for cohesiveness, and funny to boot, so it was even better. I wasn't too impressed with the writing at first but the author won me over. I was even handling the Evangelical Christians bashing in name of anti capitalism and all that bc even though I believe in God I'm aware this religion is beyond help until that weak ass unnecessary last minute drama reveal ending and the kid

being turned into a damn rogarou wtf

, it was so annoying! But I really enjoyed the story and Joan's quest and her love for this dude (and Victor's for her, very swoony) for like 90% and how as plot driven and fast the story is it also felt immersive and didactic for me as a reader outside of the community. It was fun reading these characters and appreciating their culture. Only the ending robbed it from being completely amazing to me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, and Body shaming

Minor: Abortion, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Sexual assault

tree_star's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense

5.0

The only thing I didn't like about this book is the 30 seconds of on page pet murder. Oh hey, CW: Pet abuse/ murder, blood, substance abuse, religious abuse.

I loved this book. I was drawn into the story from the start and kept getting sucked in further and further and actually holding my breath there at the end-!

Scary but unexpected in its execution, the Monster discovery is thrilling, mysterious, and intrepid. 
These characters are as flawed as they are likeable, and the storytelling is just magnificent. 

Solid 5 stars. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Fatphobia, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Violence, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, and Drug abuse

mr_cain's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Religious bigotry, Grief, Cursing, and Drug use

Moderate: Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, and Death

Minor: Sexual content, Stalking, Miscarriage, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, and Infidelity

caidyn's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Premise? Awesome.
Carry-out? Meh.

I think that sums up my thoughts on the book. I was super excited to read it, but it fell flat as a read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol and Animal cruelty

alerasaul0's review against another edition

dark emotional informative tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty

tinytrashqueen's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Minor: Sexual assault

caseythereader's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

 - EMPIRE OF WILD on one level reads as a wild mystery adventure, but look a little closer and it's actually a tale of the horrors of colonization.
- This book is full of messy characters (some of whom I thought could have stood to have a little more page time) and you're rooting for Joan the whole way. I was turning pages as fast as I could, and the final showdown had me gripped.
- The ending seems to have people split, and I can see why - if you read this book, come talk to me about what you think happens! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Child abuse, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, and Violence

Minor: Ableism, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

grey_jayne's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

A beautifully told story with ancestral magic, dangerous villains, and rogarous!

Some chapters were devoted to different perspectives which gave a dreamy quality to the storytelling. And quite a page turner. I feel like this book read me.

Warning: Prepare for some darkness and cruelty. I was surprised by how hard hitting parts of this book were.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

thevietvegan's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I just finished this and I didn't really like it e it was well written, I just don't feel like I enjoyed the plot very much. It was spooky and that was kind of tense and cool, but I feel like plot devices kept cropping up conveniently and there were a lot of unresolved issues.

The antagonist felt too omnipotent to be triumphed so easily.

I did like the allegory of what effect Christianity has on Indigenous communities though, it's not often I see the dominant religion be painted so villainously (maybe I just haven't read enough books that do that, now that I say it out loud I feel like maybe its a lot more common in literature than I think)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Homophobia

Minor: Miscarriage, Racial slurs, and Racism