Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Sea of Ruin by Pam Godwin

11 reviews

deathmetalheron's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

1.75

Sea of Ruin has a lot going for it. The setting is great, the character dynamics are certainly there, the author knows her chops. The romantic tension is palpable. 
But the delivery of many of these aspects is disappointingly subpar. The characters go through humiliation parade after parade. The garnish of shipping and naval vernacular immediately gives way to crude words for sexual interaction, the transition between the two being jarring at best and non-existent at worse. 
The height of this book comes at Bennett's capture by Ashley Cutler--the dynamics indicated before suggest a conflict between Bennett as a character and her struggle between two loves. I daresay the second fifth to quarter of this book is pretty much phenomenal. 
You could see it in my reading journal, but at the halfway point this book goes from a high tension pirate romance to an absolute slog. Some critical decision are made of Ashley's character that really draw the line and make him seem a bit more manipulative and Bennett (who's been characterized as being headstrong and skeptical) brushes them off. I get this is the appeal of a captor-captive romance but the characterization is quite literally strewn off the deck into the sea, NSFW

squirted into the ocean much like Ashley is described as doing repeatedly.

The final act is an absolute slog where Bennett is NSFW

kidnapped and raped

and then she is

kidnapped and tortured.

The end of the story basically just happens to her. I was turned off from this book at the halfway point, but by the end I was uniquely frustrated. 
Even during the good times, the way sexual interaction is written is hysterical and I saved numerous quotes. In a better story, they would be a fun aspect to giggle about and another layer to add to the story's atmosphere, but given the dark humiliating train to the end they come across as severely out of place and way too lighthearted. I was really hoping this book would be it, but MAN it was not.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Death, Torture, Rape, Kidnapping, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Confinement, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexism

Minor: Colonisation, Racism, Slavery, Alcohol, and Infidelity

_terah_hansen_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Blood, Death, Excrement, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Death of parent, Infertility, Rape, Vomit, Gore, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Violence, Slavery, Suicide, and Murder

amandalachelle's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Animal cruelty, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Slavery, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Torture, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Homophobia

jburson's review against another edition

I hit the point where the first true hookup between one of the two romantic leads for the FMC happens and it's him literally anal raping her and like 10 min later she's forgiven him so... this is definitely not my thing. I sometimes enjoy dark romance but, and I guess this is a hot take, but IMO physical, emotional, and mental abuse isn't romantic no matter the situation. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Violence, Sexual content, Slavery, Infertility, Domestic abuse, Torture, Sexism, Rape, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

prologues_epilogues's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

Literally the worst book ever written, don't waste your time reading something marketed as some cool pirate adventure story when it's just some disgusting r-pe fantasy, and the fetishization of queer men. No one in this book actually likes each other, they just like power and power dynamics.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Slavery, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Confinement, Rape, Torture, Sexual assault, Suicide, Physical abuse, and Violence

deesquared's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

4.0

Bit of a rollercoaster, couldn’t stop reading, definitely check triggers! I’m not sure if it was historically accurate, but still a wild read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Torture, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Death of parent, Bullying, Child abuse, Grief, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Blood, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, and Suicidal thoughts

amme's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Blood, Confinement, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Medical content, and Gun violence

Minor: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Infertility, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Vomit

adhara13's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Toxic relationship, Torture, Suicide, Slavery, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Sexual assault, Sexism, Physical abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Medical content, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Infertility, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, Child abuse, Blood, Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Sexual content, and Colonisation

About one of the rape scenes:

the main character is raped by (one of) her love interests and this isn't presented as wrong (not even considered as rape within the story) because her rapist regrets it and she's in love with him.

ameliajag's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infertility, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Violence

elishaj's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

A Pirate Erotica. 
I completely,fell in love w both love interest. 
I felt every pain  the protagonist went through but her heart was her greatest enemy & her best asset. Her love has no borders and it’s so true and that was the driving force of the book. 
I did not expect the plot twist but it was a definitely a   surprise.
At times reading this book was extremely difficult but the author is talented. And I admire that she was able to tell this whole story in one book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Confinement, Death, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence