Reviews tagging 'Torture'

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

97 reviews

booksqworm's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

2.5

The book has potential but the writing style just did not work for me. I felt somethings were right on the nose and some things came out of no where. Has a lot of cool ideas but I think it could have been shorter. A lot of people would still love this book, but for me it was just a bit slow, cruel, and lacking excitement/plot. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Sexual violence

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Violence, Death of parent, Excrement, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Child death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Lesbophobia, Blood, Rape, Abortion, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Medical content, Suicide, Ableism, Self harm, Sexism, Torture, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Homophobia, and Mental illness

sophisticotton's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-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

4.5

After loving Sorrowland last year, I tried this. I really enjoy Solomon’s writing, and while I liked this less, I was fine with being swept away on the journey even when I wasn’t sure exactly what was going on. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Torture

Moderate: Rape

hannah_a_r_teatalksbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

3.5

I really enjoyed the worldbuilding in this book; conceptually, it was fascinating. However, sometimes mysteries were picked up and set down again for reasons that escaped me. One example is the place where Lune's notes were stored, which seemed like it could have been much more developed. The resolution of the mystery of Lune's disappearance was anticlimactic,

and I was also very confused about the insistence the book had that she slit her throat, when there was no body and we never find out what happened

. Mostly, I was just unprepared for the incessant sexual violence in the book. There is so much sexual violence. It made the book hard to read, and not in the "this is hard but good/important for me" way, but in the "yes, we get it already, women of the Lowerdecks are raped incessantly, yes, I understand the problems inherent in this society and how it represents our own past and present, we've now passed the point where it develops theme, character, and plot and is just beating me up" sort of way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Mental illness, Child death, Confinement, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Death, Murder, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Classism, Grief, Police brutality, Racism, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Moderate: Rape, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, and Sexual assault

Minor: Incest and Pedophilia

mostlyvoidpartiallystars's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

This book is incredible, thought-provoking, and devastating. There's a mix of terrifying worldbuilding, fascinating characters, mysterious plot, and deep emotional resonance. Make SURE to read the content warnings, though - it's a very heavy book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Toxic friendship, Racial slurs, Rape, Medical content, Racism, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Death, Child death, Torture, Sexual violence, Ableism, Violence, and Gun violence

tifftastic87's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-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

4.5

Beautifully dark and depressing. With a small light in the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Confinement, Torture, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Death, Mental illness, Slavery, Suicide, and Abortion

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Cursing, Dysphoria, Rape, Pregnancy, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Minor: Bullying

shriyaa's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Torture, and Rape

twistmalchik's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Child death, Rape, Violence, Transphobia, Ableism, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, Medical content, Death of parent, and Mental illness

Moderate: Torture, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

honeynutmalcontent's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Police brutality, Racism, Death, Religious bigotry, Medical content, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Abortion, Violence, and Suicide

Moderate: Colonisation, Homophobia, Transphobia, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Torture, Classism, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Rape, Mental illness, Abandonment, Transphobia, Blood, and Dysphoria

leweylibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.25

I really wish I liked this one more 😕 I think I would've liked it better not in audiobook (the quick, brief POV changes were a bit difficult), and I wasn't a big fan of the narrator or the MC really. I can tell it was good writing wise, it just wasn't hitting me much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, Abortion, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Sexism, Classism, Violence, Bullying, Police brutality, Rape, Child death, Gore, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Death, Body horror, Slavery, and Suicide attempt

abbie_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.0

It’s always a great feeling when a well-loved book lives up to the hype! And bonus points for me if it’s science fiction, not a genre I naturally gravitate to. Rivers Solomon’s An Unkindness of Ghosts is gut-wrenching, original, intense and I can’t wait to try their other books now!

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This book is set on the Matilda, a huge space ship which has been carrying the last of humanity to a fabled ~Promised Land~ for generations, home to a social strata uncannily similar to the antebellum South. Aster, a labourer in the lower decks of the Matilda as well as a healer, finds herself in the unlikely position of overturning the oppressive ruling powers of the Matilda, along with Giselle, a heavily traumatised woman, and Theo, the Surgeon revered by the entire ship.

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I loved that Aster was coded neurodivergent, and literally every other person in this book is queer. There are some gorgeous and heartbreaking explorations of gender and sexuality, particularly from Theo. There’s also quite a lot of action (in comparison to the books I usually read anyway), and I found it to be paced well, with plenty of suspense and mystery. Please do be mindful of the triggers though, as this book is also heavy on things like sexual violence, racism, state-sanctioned murder etc. My only issue was the character of Giselle felt a bit underdeveloped and often too convenient.

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For some reason I don’t feel like I have much else to say, except that the writing was beautiful and I was fully invested in this story from page one! Just a bloody good piece of sci-fi that I finally picked up thanks to @openbookopen’s Queer Your Year challenge!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Racism, Rape, Torture, and Sexual violence