Reviews tagging 'Transphobia'

Lui che annegò il mondo by Shelley Parker-Chan

51 reviews

hubertsc's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous emotional hopeful sad 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Violence, War

Minor: Ableism, Homophobia, Transphobia

pearlbird's review against another edition

4.25

challenging dark emotional

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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Props to Parker-Chan for being brave enough to write this book and get it published. All characters are deliciously messed up while fighting for the Imperial throne of China. Each of them has to deal with being outside of the gender and sexuality norms of the time and place and be warned - it's not pretty. Marginalisation does not a hero make. It is however well-written and dares to explore these questions in ways I have rarely seen. I only had to deduct some points because

my fave my bestie my love Ma Xiuying is weirdly absent for the vast middle.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism

Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Toxic friendship, War

Minor: Child death

drowning

lm19's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional 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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Such an engaging story with so many twists and turns. I loved being able to see so many different POV characters throughout this book and Parker-Chan has such a way with words.  It wasn’t perfect but it was exactly what I have been searching for in a book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, War

Moderate: Colonisation

valkyri_anna's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark emotional 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

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An excellent conclusion to Zhu’s story! Unabashedly queer, unabashedly heartbreaking at times. Parker-Chan is someone to keep an eye on!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War

Moderate: Sexism, Transphobia

Minor: Sexual content, Sexual violence

I do not love how Zhu’s pronouns are changed based on perspective. Perhaps Parker-Chan intended a more fluid reading of Zhu’s gender, but I always read them as transmasculine and felt a little weird seeing them referred to with feminine pronouns when the writing takes their perspective. Didn’t ruin the book for me, just an odd choice.

ghoulgalpal's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, War

Moderate: Homophobia, Transphobia

Minor: Sexual assault

peter_xxx's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual violence, Transphobia

shibh's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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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A bittersweet end to the duology. These books look at gender and the human experience of it in a way that has left me feeling exposed and crying. In a good way though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic

grace_b_3's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional reflective 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: Gore, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Grief, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail

spec_tacles's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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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After She Who Became The Sun, I knew I would love this, but i’m still shocked by how much. I was just as immersed in this one, despite different perspectives, and the emotional payoff was huge. 

This is a 5-star read, no question. If I were Shelley Parker-Chan, I would feel so proud to have created such a dynamic work of art.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Chronic illness, Pregnancy

Most content warnings come from the fact that the story is about war, but it’s still challenging regardless, especially the torture.

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