Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Lui che annegò il mondo by Shelley Parker-Chan

130 reviews

spootilious's review against another edition

4.0

dark reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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 Read: December 22, 2023
 Title: He Who Drowned the World 

Series: The Radiant Emperor #2 

Genre: Fantasy / Historical Fiction / LGBT 

Rating: 4 / 5
 Review: 

I occasionally come across a book that I really struggle rating and I was shocked to find that this is one of those books. 

I came into He Who Drowned the World with very low expectations. I didn’t care for She Who Became the Sun, for a number of reason listed in my previous review. 

However, almost everything that made me dislike She who Became the Sun didn’t make it into the sequel which I am very thankful for. To be honest, I was concerned with the massive amounts of recommendations I received in regard to this series and how many awards She Who Became the Sun has won. I was praying that He Who Drowned the World would make up for what (I felt) was an extremely lacking novel. I was not disappointed. 

Parker-Chan is a beautifully talented writer (Which I knew from book 1) and tends to lean towards the very dark and morose. In fact, a bit too dark for my usual taste which may be why I wanted to give this book (He Who Drowned the World) a 3.5 and not a 4. However, Parker-Chan’s ability to write horrific imagery in a such a simplistic and straightforward manner makes the imagery all the more effective. This includes a number of sexually explicit scene, which paints sex as nothing more than a tool, punishment, or means to an end which, while I once again did not like, I can respect. The reader’s response to a story is just as much of a plot device as the sentences on a page. I was appropriately repulsed. 

I will also say that I didn’t care much for the lack of morality in ALL the characters in the novel. It left me without a ship to sail and was, perhaps, the main issue that I still hold over from She Who Became the Sun. 

All that being said, the fast pace and action-packed plot had me devouring this book, and I could not in good faith rate it lower than 4 simply due to my distaste. (i.e. the 4 star rating is more my personal rating of 3.5 and the acknowledging that some of the reasons it’s a 3.5 is because of my own personal biases against the lack of moral characters, rape, and very dark tones). 

Overall, one of the best books I’ve read this year. I will definitely recommend to individuals who love reading Dark Fantasy and Historical Fiction. 

 

 

QUOTES: 

“The most dangerous person in a game is the one nobody knows is playing.” 

“Nobody would lift a finger to change the world for us. To make a place for us. What choice did we ever have, but to do it ourselves?” 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Violence, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Gore, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Medical content, Abortion, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Vomit, Death of parent

taowlette's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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The morally gray characters....sure were morally gray.........Couldn't put the book down but was incredibly stressed the entire time LOL. Shelley Parker-Chan strikes again with their masterful writing, but I found the conclusion somewhat rushed. I wish there were more hopeful moments scattered throughout the book, to make the conclusion more believable for me. I loved the book, I just don't know if I'm strong enough to read it again 🥹

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail

its_thekla's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Not an easy read but a worth while one. This finale took everything SWBTS started and finished it with such a freaking bang. The whole thing, for being a nearly 500 page book, read like nothing. Has awful as all the main POV characters are I couldn't walk away from it. Literally- I finished this in less than 36 hours with an insane 2 year old. Not only does this make me want to go back and start the whole duology over again, I'm now interested in how the audiobook plays out. 

Read this duology. Mind the triggers. It's a terrible time- you'll love it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, War, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent

andtheywereroommates's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gaslighting, War

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol

Minor: Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders

aileron's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Confinement, Homophobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Transphobia, Dysphoria

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Slavery, Excrement, Death of parent

chickenmidwife's review against another edition

5.0

emotional tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Outing

Moderate: Ableism, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny

oruga's review against another edition

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i wanted to get through this book but i can only skip so many sex scenes without losing my entire mind over the lack of plot content

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Misogyny

tiernanhunter's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail

samants's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Better than She Who Became the Sun, this book really picked up at around the 20-30% mark. I was struggling for the first part of the book, especially because I didn't remember the plot of She Who Became the Sun very well, but once I got in the groove of things it trotted along nicely.

Take a shot every time you read:

• "Hungry ghosts"
• "Trotted"
• "Behatted"
• "Curious"

Also: I think I would have liked this more if the absolute psychological torment undergone by the characters wasn't described so lushly. The prose got a little purple at times, describing people's internal suffering. It was a bit much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Body horror