Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold

6 reviews

mizelse's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Chronic illness, and Body shaming

Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia

abirchtealeaf's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.75

Extremely strong trigger warnings on this book. I think it would be very fair if many people passed it up due to those. 
Outside of that the curse of chalion was absolutely riviting. I was unable to stop reading the last quarter of the book because I had to know how it ended. The mystery while not terribly deep is satisfying and rooted in a strong lore and interesting characters. 
There could be a lot of discourse about this book and I would not disagree that the are bits like the age gap relationsships and more that I think make this book slightly weaker than it should be. 
Still I found the writing extremely pleasesant and the narrator was absolutely stellar. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Sexual harassment, Torture, Mental illness, and Misogyny

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Rape

sapphicsoilscientist's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

3.5

It's a little predictable, but in the way that good writing leads to clear plotting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Slavery and Violence

Minor: Rape, Vomit, Torture, and Body horror

the rape is implied as something that happens on enemy ships and once in a castle keep but it does not happen 'on screen.' There is mention of some infidelity, but it turns out that everyone involved was apparently on the same page about it? The slavery is not like the trans-atlantic trade. tl;dr- fantasy writers will never not use fantasy men threatening rape as a way to get fantasy ladies to do what they want.

astroprojection's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Slavery, and Torture

Minor: Rape

gothnailcare's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.25

I read this directly after The Hallowed Hunt and I wish I hadn't; it made me dislike both of the books more for feeling like they were variations on the same formula. I generally enjoy drawn-out political intrigue, but I felt like this book's magic/speculative elements diminished rather than augmented the courtly drama, and I found myself a bit disappointed that much of the negotiation that was apparently so central to this book's political machinations took place entirely off screen. I continue to be more impressed by the World of the Five Gods' worldbuilding than I am the moment-to-moment scenes of these books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Animal death, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Animal cruelty, and Child abuse

obviousthings's review against another edition

I've really enjoyed what I've read of this book, and I wish I could finish it. Discussion of illness is not something I can handle much of, though, and apparently it plays a large role in the rest of the story. For the sake of my mental health I need to stop here. I would highly recommend the story if that's something you can handle, though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Slavery, Excrement, Medical content, Murder, and Misogyny

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Torture, Mental illness, Homophobia, Xenophobia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Fatphobia, Infertility, and Infidelity