Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

The Power by Naomi Alderman

95 reviews

alexbobalex's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad 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

5.0

Everyone should read this book at least once. It’s a story everyone can relate to, as we all are affected by gender and it’s power dynamics. This book made me relook at human history itself, and wonder. All that being said, strongly recomend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Acephobia/Arophobia, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

LOOK AT THE TRIGGER WARNINGS. This book it for a mature audience and contains many, many triggers.

silver_lining125's review

challenging dark tense slow-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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content and Sexual violence

Minor: Slavery

andersf's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

marite_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

I found this book quite dark and challanging but I would say that it's one of the most important litterary pieces I have read. 
This book is very thought provoking, it really puts a mirror in front of our society here and now to reflect our behaviours. I don't know if I would actually consider this book feminist because the book mostly just put down men instead of showing how powerful women could be/are. 
I really like the conversation this book provokes around power and nature/nurture topics. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder

laura_abbott's review

This book is extremely disappointing from an intersectionally feminist point of view. Two things really bothered my partner and I about this book:

• Non-western cultures are portrayed in a very overly-simplified, stereotyped ways. It is very clear that the book was not passed by any kind of sensitivity reader, as no non-western women were given a voice at all-- these countries and cultures are all described through the perspective of a man. All non-white cultures are described as oppressive and conservative, without any nuance or depth given to the characters in western cultures. 
• The book is a violent revenge fantasy-- which, if it acknowledged itself as such, might actually have an inkling of the empowerment it purports to provide. Instead, it simply reverses the oppressive direction of the gender binary in an utterly pointless, violent way. This, according to the author herself, was apparently the goal of the book (in order to illustrate what a dystopian world we live in-- as if we didn't know). Instead the author's radical portrayal illustrates her alarmingly limited understanding of feminist theory-- let alone intersectional feminism-- and willingness to throw away decades of work feminists have spent disabusing people of the mistaken notion that feminism is about establishing a matriarchy. The fact the author believes a future run by a violent and oppressive matriarchy would be 'empowering' for women is sick.
• Finally, I just can't buy into the level of extreme decision-making the author depicts in the book. She writes all characters as if they are secretly waiting for the opportunity to hurt another, just for the fun of it. She then escalates this predatory mentality to the scale of nations. It's not only a perverted depiction of women, it's a perverted depiction of humanity as a whole.

The fact this book is being hailed as a feminist landmark is extremely problematic, and I am tremendously disappointed in the response this book has received.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Racism and Islamophobia

imreallyraven's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Medical trauma, and Murder

sunsetcity's review

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

This book had a very intriguing concept and I was really into it at the beginning. It touched on a lot of important topics, such as rape culture, and I was fully invested. But then it dragged a lot near the end and I felt that we never really got to know the characters on a deeper level.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Murder

dragonez's review

challenging dark reflective

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, and Murder

marionlundqvist's review

dark tense slow-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Genocide, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Murder

aasplund's review

adventurous tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual content

Minor: Sexism