Reviews tagging 'War'

The Emperor's Babe by Bernardine Evaristo

4 reviews

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

emotional reflective

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Transphobia, and Grief

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Incest, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Trafficking, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War

bootrat's review against another edition

funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A really funny and unique book, that's a great mix of modern and ancient. It follows the life of Zuleika from age 11 to 18, in Roman London. It's fairly light-hearted, despite her being a child bride and becoming a slave owner. The mix of poetry and prose is really good, especially in audiobook form which flows so well together - though I can see this being more difficult to read in another format.

I loved the inclusion of a trans woman among her group of friends (despite the mild transphobia that comes from this being written in 2001), as well as the blase attitude towards homosexuality and the sex positive nature of the book. 

A great short read and an enjoyable story even though the end is a little sad.

Warnings:
Though the main character is a child by today's standards the book is written with the (however mistaken) understanding that life expectancy at the time was around 40 so the events in the book take the character to almost middle age. Despite knowing Zuleika's age I mostly pictured her as a woman in her 20-30s, living life in the way that somebody of that age would in today's world. 

Also, the rape mentioned in the content warnings is in the context of child marriage and the expected "marital duties" that accompany that. It isn't described in detail.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Sexual content, and Slavery

Minor: Colonisation and War

veelaughtland's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Toxic friendship and War

schorlett's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny informative 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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and War