Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Siren Queen by Nghi Vo

10 reviews

abarnakwn_ourcolourfulpages's review against another edition

I was really looking forward to reading this book, as I've loved Nghi Vo's Singing Hills Cycle. Unfortunately, I think the content of this particular novel is a bit too disturbing/triggering for me in the current head space I'm in. I will definitely be revisiting at a better time!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Racism, Alcohol, Child abuse, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Classism, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

uranaishi's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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: Toxic relationship and Sexual content

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Racism, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Homophobia, Alcohol, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, and Bullying

Minor: Abortion, Addiction, Classism, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Drug use, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Trafficking, Rape, Sexual assault, Dysphoria, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Mental illness, Child death, Vomit, War, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Murder, Outing, and Pregnancy

peggymay's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Abortion, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Death, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Sexual content, Body horror, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Murder, Homophobia, Misogyny, Classism, Sexual assault, Violence, Drug use, Racism, Sexism, Addiction, Cultural appropriation, and Body shaming

its_thekla's review

3.5

All I expected going into this was another great sorry from Nghi Vo. While not quite the same speed as The Singing Hills Cycle, this was still a good read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Racism

Moderate: Child abuse, Xenophobia, and Homophobia

kingcrookback's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

It's an interesting concept and premise, but the execution just did not do it for me. People of color and LGBTQ+ people in Old Hollywood - in theory, this is right up my alley! But there's a vague and meandering quality to the story, world, and magic system that hovered between mysterious and ethereal at best and muddled at worst. I wanted more exploration of the way things worked. For example, I know that the changes Vo made to the studio system is metaphorical of the exploitative practices of the real-life studio systems, but I was left wanting more detail. The nodders - horrifying! What does the process of making them entail?

The story really only started to grip me in earnest around the 75% mark, where we started to see conflict between Luli and Tara and the abstraction started to abate a bit. This wasn't for me, but I'll pick up some of Vo's other works and see if they stir up some different feelings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Misogyny, Violence, Child abuse, and Blood

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

Minor: Pregnancy and Abortion

sarah984's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

I love Nghi Vo's novellas (When The Tiger Came Down The Mountain is one of my favourite books) but this book did not work for me. I'm not surprised to find in the author's note that chronologically this is their first novel because it really does feel like a debut. There is not enough story to sustain a full length novel, but somehow the book still feels long. The writing style is also extremely fanficcy (the "all [noun] and [noun]" physical descriptors, the characters making parenthetical interjections throughout for no reason) and the romances are silly and over the top. None of the prominent characters are that interesting, and the book does that annoying thing from historical fiction where the character lays out the hardships of a certain setting and then goes, "but not me though!" as if they're better than all the real people who went through those situations.

I will say though that the world was very interesting (even if we didn't get to see a lot of it) and the way the magic was used to emphasize real world issues was mostly well done.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Ableism, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Racism, and Sexual assault

Minor: Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Drug use, Child abuse, Death, Addiction, Alcohol, Homophobia, and Infidelity

musebeliever's review

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Child abuse and Emotional abuse

Minor: Incest

anxiousnachos's review

dark mysterious slow-paced

4.5

4.5 stars. Siren Queen has again proved how much I adore Nghi Vo’s writing. She has such beauty and a delicate hand with her prose, it always feels like stepping out of a dream when I finish reading. I particularly loved the way folklore and mythology was embedded into Siren Queen, woven into the magic of the world and into the dark underbelly of Hollywood. 

Content warnings: racism, slurs, homophobia, sexual harassment, abuse in Hollywood, misogyny, physical child abuse, blood and gore, self-mutilation, fire, sex, pregnancy, discussions of abortion

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Lesbophobia, Blood, Violence, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Abortion, Physical abuse, and Child abuse

onestephatatime's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Racism, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, and Misogyny

Moderate: Bullying and Toxic relationship

Minor: Abortion

internationalreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, Outing, Body horror, Drug use, Sexism, Sexual content, Abandonment, Body shaming, Classism, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Alcohol, Child abuse, Dysphoria, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Racial slurs, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Vomit, Fatphobia, Racism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, and Cultural appropriation