You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, War
Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Grief, Alcohol
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Alcohol, War
Minor: Infertility, Racism, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Abandonment, War
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, War, Classism
I only finished this because I read it for a book club. Way too much unnecessarily explicit SA & pedophilia (just because it's "historically accurate" does not mean I want to read full details of a 14-year-old being r*ped by someone twice her age), characters were mostly one dimensional and often more like caricatures, and the pacing was uneven. The plot and the character Philip were the only things keeping me going, as it is ultimately a good story. The descriptions of the cathedral and the building process were also great. However, all of the tension and story beats ended up feeling super repetitive and recycled, and for the last couple hundred pages I was rolling my eyes at the dramatic twists and turns which felt contrived and meaningless at that point. I really wanted to love this book, but ultimately it was unremarkable. Hard to recommend, unless you like to read soap operas with one-note characters and you're okay with repeated graphic SA. I suppose if you *really* like drama and architecture, and have extreme patience, this is the book for you.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Emotional abuse, War
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Antisemitism, Alcohol, War
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Rape, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, War
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Antisemitism, War
Minor: Confinement, Fatphobia, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Rape, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry
I don’t shy away from challenging books, but there has to be a strong why when it comes to this degree of sexual violence.
The most recent series I read with content of this sort is the Poppy War trilogy, which deliberately covers a parallel to the rape of nanking.
This book is not covering real historical events, and not all of the rape/attempted rape seems to be serving a purpose of any kind in the story.
I was really excited to read about the building of a historical cathedral over the decades, but I think this book may be harmful without sufficient redeeming qualities for me to push through. DNF.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Miscarriage
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Abandonment