Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor

19 reviews

cstewart88's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Sexual assault, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Abortion, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Abandonment, and Rape

juliatfowler's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

There is a lot of gratuitous violence in this book. Good to read own voices but this book was too long. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Torture, Rape, Murder, Abortion, Blood, Classism, Drug abuse, Suicide, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Violence, Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Colonisation, Sexual assault, Self harm, Gore, and Trafficking

naireeb's review

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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Animal death, Hate crime, Death, Classism, Child abuse, Body horror, Abandonment, Murder, Grief, Car accident, Trafficking, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Mass/school shootings, Drug abuse, Cursing, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Addiction, Abortion, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Drug use, and Violence

steshajohnson's review

challenging emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Murder, and Torture

Moderate: Sexism, Abortion, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Death, Car accident, Panic attacks/disorders, Child death, and Slavery

Minor: Trafficking

lindsayerin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Abortion, Addiction, Classism, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Drug abuse, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Torture, Alcoholism, Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Grief, Gun violence, Rape, Violence, Alcohol, Gore, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, and Death

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

savvyrosereads's review

challenging 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

4.0

Rating: 4/5 stars

A Mercedes runs over five people on the streets of New Delhi, setting in motion an epic family saga involving three characters from very different backgrounds and families.

Everyone in the world seems to be reading this book recently, and it’s easy to see why—it’s unique and captivating, with beautifully written prose and insightful commentary on class and colonialism. And as literary fiction and a family saga but with a crime fiction edge, Age of Vice has something to offer fans of many different genres.

Still, while I absolutely understand the appeal, I also felt that the book was a bit over-long: it’s nearly 600 pages, but most of that is dedicated to providing a level of deep background into the characters that I didn’t always find necessary. The story is clearly meant to be a slow burn, but I occasionally found it a bit *too* slow, and wanted more plot and action, especially after such an explosive beginning.

All of that said, this book has a lot of positives that outweigh the negatives. The writing is incredibly cinematic and I know that it will make for an incredible miniseries or movie (rights were sold in a bidding war years before publication!) And, the payoff of the ending was big enough that I’ll definitely pick up the second book in the planned trilogy when it releases.

Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: epic family sagas; The Godfather but set in India; cinematic novels

CW: Sexual assault/rape; child abuse; murder/death/death of parent; drug abuse/use; torture; classism; violence generally

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Murder, Self harm, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Death, Drug use, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Rape, Trafficking, Violence, and Confinement

noble_editorial's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

This author is a superb talent, so it truly saddens me to withhold my review until HarperCollins agrees to meet with its employees and negotiate a fair deal with the union. A living wage and diversity in publishing are critical issues that HC is choosing to ignore.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Drug use, Gun violence, Car accident, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Murder, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Child abuse, and Addiction

breacommelafromage's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.75

I really REALLY enjoyed this book and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it for days. 

I found the ending to be quite unsatisfying but not in a bad way if that makes sense? The author was very intentional with how they ended it and it makes perfect sense for the story but at the same time I wanted more!! I was just so engrossed with the lives and story of each character I didn’t want a vague ending — but that is just me being greedy as a reader and not a short coming of the writing. 

I don’t know that this book will be everyone’s cup of tea, but I think the people it’s meant for, it will leave them reeling and with a massive book hang over the way it left me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Car accident, and Gun violence

Minor: Fatphobia and Sexual violence

elizabeth_lepore's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Violence, Car accident, Death, Murder, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Abortion, Child abuse, and Rape

Minor: Suicide, Sexual content, and Panic attacks/disorders