Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

45 reviews

laguerrelewis's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Rivers Solomon has a way of tugging you by the soul, pulling you into the world they’ve lovingly and painstakingly crafted. An Unkindness of Ghosts is many things: a rumination on faith & oppression, on the afterlife and our ancestor’s legacy, a story of survival and rebellion and forcing a space for yourself when the system denies it, but most of all, it is a good book. I cannot stress enough to heed the content warnings, but if you can stomach them, this book will reward you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Death of parent, Child death, Classism, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Torture, Grief, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Violence, Abortion, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Death, Medical content, Rape, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Confinement, Police brutality, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Child abuse and Transphobia

lim's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Misogyny, Transphobia, Emotional abuse, Murder, Pedophilia, Violence, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, Police brutality, Racism, Rape, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Slavery

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia, Confinement, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Dysphoria, Death, Body shaming, Bullying, and Incest

Minor: Abortion, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Vomit

sarkenobi's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Police brutality, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Torture, Xenophobia, Ableism, Classism, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Violence, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria, Gore, Homophobia, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Abortion, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Death of parent, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Chronic illness, Cursing, Drug abuse, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, and Miscarriage

Minor: Child abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Vomit

pearlpool's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense 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

4.5

this was INSANE…….. so heartbreaking and beautiful :( WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND LOOKING AT THE CONTENT WARNINGS!!!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Racism, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Hate crime, Transphobia, Rape, Self harm, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Mental illness, Homophobia, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Deadnaming, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Abortion, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Violence, Torture, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Blood

tigger89's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was incredible. I've never met a protagonist quite like Aster: queer, neurodivergent, sharp in both manner and intelligence, and scarred by a lifetime of trauma but hell-bent on getting her way. The rest of the cast didn't disappoint either, with a varied collection of complexly-written and -motivated characters comprising both the heroic and villainous casts. Theo was an incredible supporting character. Again, complicated and frustrating, but I was so glad we got to meet him and even spend a chapter in his head. I would have liked to hear more from his point of view in fact, though I admit it wouldn't have served the plot any better. I just want more Theo, and I want him to be happy. It's a purely selfish desire. And no, there's nothing on AO3. I checked.

Anyway. There were a lot of ways this book could have gone wrong. The concept of "antebellum slavery recreated aboard a generation ship in transit" was ambitious, and I can think of few other authors who could have done it justice — N.K. Jemisin, perhaps? Jemisin wouldn't have done the character work in the same way though, so it would have been a very different book. I thought the level of scientific crunch was perfect for the story Solomon was trying to tell. The science seemed mostly sound to my layman's understanding(with the exception of the siluminium), but rather than taking on a starring role it formed the backbone that supported the main point of the story, which was about the society that relied on that science to survive.

My only complaint about this book is that the pacing gets a little weird in the last third. A lot of time passes, but the plot remains urgent, so there's some very weird time skips that leave the narrative feeling disjointed, even rushed at times. But this only brings the overall score down to maybe a 4.75, so I rounded it up. If you're someone who likes your sci-fi with science that at least puts up a pretense of being grounded in fact, but who still prefers a focus on character and society over hard scientific crunch, the style of this book would probably appeal to you. Just be mindful of the content warnings, as there's quite a lot of them and Solomon pulls no punches.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Slavery, Transphobia, Violence, Religious bigotry, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Racism, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Abortion, Blood, Classism, Death of parent, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Medical content, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Minor: Suicide, Alcohol, Pedophilia, and Pregnancy

booksjessreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-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

5.0

This is my first ever sci-fi read, and I must say that this is an incredible book. I felt so immersed into this story and genuinely, it was phenomenal. The world-building, the dialogue, the complexity of characters, the natural flow of writing. It was just... amazing!

I will admit that it took me about 2-3 chapters to fully get going. I listened to the audiobook and I also felt like whilst I was listening in the first couple of chapters, I did miss key details about the world-building, but just continued listening. I felt like as I went through the story, this didn't matter too much and I thought I had a good grip of the world by the middle of the book. I have bought a physical copy so that next time I read, I read the print copy to annotate those extra details.

Genuinely, the conjunction between structural racism and generational ships in Matilda was my favourite part about the whole thing and thought the crafting of this world was done extremely well. I saw some 'critics reviews' that said the 'many layers of metaphor' and 'worldbuilding by poetry' disappointed readers that wanted hard science fiction, but this is what I loved most. The poetic language only heightened the worldbuilding and reading between the lines made it all the more real for the reader. Although, I understand this is not to everyone's taste. 

I am of the opinion of other reviews where the ending does feel slightly rushed and there were some things that could have been explored in some more depth for me, but I still really enjoyed the story anyway! I felt the pace really picks up about half way through, and that it was a very packed ending in the last few chapters.

I did also feel as though the death of the Sovereign and Lune's death could have been explored more. I felt like in the middle of the story, we were looking towards a mystery of what the fluid-like metal was and how it got there, but we were abruptly given the answer to that and I felt like it could have been dragged out more mysteriously before we came to that conclusion.

It is very rare I want a book to be longer, but I wish it was so that there could be so many more things added. I thought the book was excellent as it was anyway, not just because of the worldbuilding, but the ending, for me, was unexpected. I just wish that themes could have been explored more. I just never really wanted the book to end. 

I would recommend this book 100%! I think it was an amazing experience, especially listening to the audio as it just brought everything to life. Before reading though, please read the trigger warnings, as there are a lot of graphic triggers in this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, Suicide attempt, Medical content, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Infertility, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, and Suicide

terrestrial_river's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Death, Medical content, Racism, Classism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Grief, Colonisation, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, Slavery, and Suicide

Moderate: Abortion, Blood, and Gun violence

booksthatburn's review against another edition

I love so much about this book, I just couldn't handle a particular topic that's triggering for me when I was already stressed (mostly in good ways) by the story so far. The worldbuilding is very cool, paying attention to language and tiny cultural differences existing between the decks. The audiobook performance is good. I like Aster as a main character.

I really wish I could handle finishing this, but I just can't.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Pregnancy, Death, Racism, Slavery, Police brutality, Terminal illness, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Ableism, Homophobia, Cursing, Abortion, Mental illness, Blood, Infertility, Child abuse, and Cancer

Minor: Transphobia, Dementia, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Death of parent, Self harm, and Fire/Fire injury

nagev's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Homophobia, Abortion, Classism, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, and Confinement

Moderate: Pregnancy, Police brutality, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Bullying, Chronic illness, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Blood, Abandonment, Torture, Transphobia, Rape, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Vomit, Slavery, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexism, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Misogyny, Medical content, Lesbophobia, and Grief

Minor: Ableism, Child abuse, and Alcohol

rosalind's review against another edition

adventurous 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? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Medical content, and Murder

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Child death, Abortion, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Blood, Drug use, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape