Reviews tagging 'Violence'

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

176 reviews

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

petrichorandcoffee's review against another edition

challenging reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, and Racism

Moderate: Rape

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

wonderingintothevoid's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense

• 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Violence, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Slavery, Racial slurs, Racism, Ableism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Sexual assault, Transphobia, Biphobia, Death, Pedophilia, and Toxic friendship

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

billie_visible's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Hate crime, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Sexual assault, Violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide attempt, and Transphobia

Minor: Homophobia and Abortion

kellyofcali's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

4.0

Very much a modern sci-fi for me, I liked the world the author created and the way they wove in themes of classism and racism while still pursuing a vibrant sci-fi story with a more diverse and varied cast of characters. My main issue was the ending - it felt like someone told them to "wrap it up" and so the ending felt unhurried and less gripping than the earlier parts of the book. However, definitely worth a read and made for an interesting book club discussion (people were very split) - especially for sci-fi lovers.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Violence, Death, Abandonment, Abortion, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Gaslighting, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Rape, Death of parent, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Blood, Medical content, Misogyny, Slavery, Chronic illness, Grief, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Pregnancy and Racism

angelbabe_cj's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Medical content, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, Sexual violence, Slavery, Child death, Drug use, Gun violence, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Hate crime, Racism, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, and Physical abuse

thestartrekunicorndog's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, and Slavery

Moderate: Sexual assault, Child death, and Death of parent

Minor: Pedophilia