Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

The Power by Naomi Alderman

97 reviews

kebosenilorac's review

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and War

ageenen's review

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, and Sexual harassment

karingforbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I enjoyed this book. I like that it took our current reality and flipped it over. Makes you think. She doesn’t address trans people or intersectionality at all, which I think she should have done particularly since it’s a lengthy book anyway and would have benefited from those issues being talked about.  I liked that she didn’t create a utopia which is what people often say when thinking about women ruling the world. I like that she uses juman nature and turns our conceptions on their heads though it does take some suspension of disbelief because of biological stuff like children having. Could she have gone deeper and built a better more detailed world? Yes. Do I still enjoy the book? Yes 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Murder, and Sexual harassment

supernova_reader's review

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail

jaes_dead's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book emotionally, mentally, and morally pained me to read. There was a point where I actively avoided reading this book because it had my morals clashing so much I was physically feel ill. It was an amazing read and I highly recommend this, the only reasons that its probably a 4 star rating instead of a 5 star is because its not very character driven. By saying this I don't mean that there isn't any character development, what I mean is that it feels like they are all waiting for something to happen with a very slow build up. And I think that is the point but it just didn't sit very well with me, but that might just be my own personal preference. Otherwise this was an amazing and very emotional read for me and everyone ( especially cis-men ) should read it for the fact that it delves into some very serious topics that would maybe give some cis-men a ah-ha moment.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and War

epellicci's review

challenging dark sad fast-paced

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

1.5

I found The Power was horrific almost for the sake of it as the book went on, and the plot lacked confidence as the story headed towards its conclusion. The final chapters trail off into an ambiguous and stilted jumble which felt given up on when considering the particular and uncomfortable detail which Alderman went into throughout the rest of the book. The four characters leading the narration lacked dimension, and I found the way that everyone (excluding Tunde) had basically the same goal of political/religious dominance in mind lazy.  As the book progressed, the characters personalities basically all bled into one for me, and at times I forgot whether I was reading from Allie's perspective or Roxy's. A concept with a lot of potential, executed badly. 

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Slavery, Medical content, and War

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

ally_w's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

2.0

This book could have been successful in my opinion if it was shorter. Ultimately I think there was too much trying to be said in one story. This as a short story with just the correspondence from the beginning and end could have been a better way to communicate the idea in a subtle, simple but intriguing way.

The ending concept which boils down to a sex-based "the grass isn't always greener on the other side" argument is a vaild one, but it gets lost in the mix of too many narratives. I'll give credit for the subtleties in the meek Neil's correspondence paralleling some woman of today's relectuance in positing their opinions but no other subtleties were really there through the bulk of the book. I find this book to not belong in feminist literature as it is fairly cruel to men as a whole for the sins of few. Not until two thirds through does it seem to cast such a lense on women, leaving it off balance.

 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Child abuse and Drug abuse

Minor: Sexual harassment

sarahfling's review

dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Trafficking, and Sexual harassment

readingintheclouds's review

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

scribblesbysammy's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

An emotive tale that analyses what would happen if women became the stronger gender.
A physiological development allows women to conduct and emit electricity, weaponising it. The story is narrated from the perspectives of multiple people, ranging from a young man who captures the first film of a shock, to a female American politician, to a foster girl who hears a voice and begins a religious movement. They move through independent yet intersecting stories that chart the emergence of this gift and the freedom it provides. This then

devolves as woman make the same grabs for power that men do in the present day, ranging from sexual assault to organ harvesting to dictatorship <spoiler/>.
An intriguing and evocative piece of feminist speculative fiction.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, and Child abuse

The deeper you go, the darker it gets.