Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho

72 reviews

anaccbram's review against another edition

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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Gaslighting, Blood, Sexual harassment, Murder, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, Rape, Medical trauma, and Homophobia

hazeyjane_2's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring medium-paced

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

3.0

A solid enough journey through the eyes of an ABC Malaysian. Jess is an intelligent heroine, albeit one who fits the model minority stereotype, which I am getting heartily sick of reading about. I did appreciate that she was out of her depth in Malaysia, but she still seemed to accomplish things a bit too easily. I found the titular character and her story much more compelling than either Ah Ma or Jess.

Excellent cultural backdrop, great Manglish I could hear in my head and bonus points for not translating. Also plus points for featuring all characters of colour. I was expecting a somewhat scarier and more adventurous book, similar to The Ghost Bride, but this one was bloated around the middle. It could've been shorter around the middle.

I appreciated that the lesbian romance wasn't made a central point of the book, but was mentioned incidentally.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Sexual violence and Violence

gigireadswithkiki's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.0

"Black Water Sister" has made me realize how woefully ignorant I am of Malaysia and the Malaysian diaspora!!! I loved all the content about Malaysia from the folklore to the customs to the cuisine, expanding my knowledge of the vibrancy of the country. Jess and her grandmother Ah Ma were super interesting characters to follow along with, and I enjoyed Ah Ma's constant commentary, which reminded me so vividly of my own grandmother. The messages on intergenerational trauma were done masterfully, evoking feelings of teary-eyed healing and self-righteous justice. 

My only gripe is how the conclusion of the gentrification in the story felt way-laid in favor of the family dynamics, even though gentrification plays a very large part in the overall story, to the point where it felt the conclusion was, "gentrification is bad but some gentrification is okay to prevent even bigger gentrification from happening". This facet of the ending didn't sit too well with me, but otherwise I enjoyed the book for it's lively characters and well-paced plot!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Xenophobia, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Confinement, Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Homophobia

Minor: Cancer and Rape

scifi_rat's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Violence, Murder, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Medical content, Rape, Physical abuse, Death, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Body horror, Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Lesbophobia, Gore, Grief, and Sexual violence

Minor: Classism, Outing, Self harm, Torture, Racism, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Cancer, and Cursing

cookiecat73's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful tense fast-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: Kidnapping, Outing, Religious bigotry, Domestic abuse, Blood, Death, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Cursing, Violence, Lesbophobia, and Murder

Moderate: Cancer, Medical content, Body horror, Confinement, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, and Stalking

Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia, Drug use, Gun violence, Abortion, and Self harm

concretefem's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-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

4.5

Stirring, ambitious, rooted, and very very queer. Really quite a marvel, really. Can’t wait to see what else Zen Cho has in store for us. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence and Domestic abuse

sulinde's review against another edition

dark emotional funny inspiring reflective tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Classism, Death, Murder, Kidnapping, Grief, Violence, Sexual violence, and Racism

Moderate: Homophobia and Xenophobia

Minor: Cancer, Cannibalism, and Deportation

anni_swanilda's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Physical abuse, Death, Homophobia, Murder, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, and Xenophobia

Minor: Cancer

bookhoarderbea's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Violence, Misogyny, and Murder

Moderate: Cancer

Minor: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Police brutality

careinthelibrary's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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? Yes

3.5

I love how spooky and dark this was! I recommend it for spooky season this year for sure!
Jess is a compelling protagonist. Imperfect, determined, brave.
This Malaysian dark fantasy novel has deep roots in history, folklore, spirituality, and queer experiences.
Ah Ma and Jess' unconventional, claustrophobic, dynamic relationship was my favourite aspect of this. She is haunted and possessed by her funny, wise, cutthroat grandmother and they use this time to bond, learn, grow. Unwind the cycle of grief, pain, and trauma. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Outing, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death, Domestic abuse, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Rape, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Self harm and Cancer

Minor: Alcohol