Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Sword Dance by A.J. Demas

5 reviews

jwells's review

adventurous emotional

I enjoyed this romance mixed with suspense and intrigue in a fictional ancient world. The protagonist is a decent guy, which I appreciate, in a world of alpha-male asshole characters. The love interest character is not what he first appears to be, in some respects, which is fun.

Having gone to philosophy grad school, I laughed at and liked the idea of philosophy student villains. It's  all too plausible that they could prioritize Ideas over people.

I did feel like there were a ton of minor characters, who were difficult to keep straight and perhaps not all necessary.  As long as Aradne wasn't edited out though; she was fantastic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia

Minor: Torture

crystalisreading's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful tense

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Homophobia, Classism, Transphobia, Violence, and Slavery

Minor: Rape, Murder, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Sexism, Torture, and Trafficking

cait's review

dark funny mysterious tense slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Cultural appropriation, Death, Dysphoria, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Ableism, Biphobia, War, Racism, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Grief, Homophobia, Hate crime, Mental illness, Murder, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Cursing, Sexism, Classism, Confinement, Gore, Religious bigotry, Violence, Physical abuse, and Xenophobia

buttermellow's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted mysterious relaxing fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Murder, Slavery, Confinement, Homophobia, Torture, Xenophobia, and Violence

Minor: Misogyny

helen's review against another edition

3.0

 Meh. Not sure I’ll carry on with the series.
The author didn’t make me care about the intrigue plot, and didn’t really deliver on the fake relationship or soldier/spy tropes, but I cared about Dami and Varazda and their soft romance, which was full of lightness and tenderness.
I appreciated the fact that Varazda’s non-binary-ness is unrelated to the fact that he’s a eunuch. And that both things were handled with sensitivity and not fetishized.
Other thoughts: the anachronistic dialogue didn’t really work for me and it could’ve done with a map. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture, Slavery, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Xenophobia