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Graphic: Torture
Moderate: Child abuse, Rape, Sexual harassment
Minor: Child abuse, Miscarriage, Violence
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Classism
Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Dementia, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia, Colonisation
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, War
What did ick me out was several mentions of rape that I thought were not very well handled. The worst, and the main reason I knocked off half a star, is of a crossdressing gay man who is thrown in prison for a night, specifically to send a cruel message to his neighbors. Although the characters treat his assault with due gravity, the writing is a bit glib, as if to defuse the horror of the scene with badly-placed comedy. It left a bad taste in my mouth that unfortunately lingered and tainted my enjoyment of the rest of the book.
Which is a real shame, because for the most part it was damn good.
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Police brutality
Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Incest, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Sexual harassment
Minor: Bullying, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Torture, Pregnancy, War
Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Incest, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Police brutality, Grief, Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, War
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Police brutality
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Pregnancy
There is barely a content warning to be found that does not apply to this book. The story is full of graphic portrayals of all kinds of violence and abuse. None of the characters are likeable. In the case of “The Shadow of the Wind“, this is a blessing, since everything that happens to the characters is bad.
The sexism and misogyny is blatant throughout the book. It would have been one thing to portray these as part of the era in which the book is set, but “The Shadow of the Wind” contains multiple characters whose only role is to enact and spew sexist, misogynist poison. This is taken so far that several characters introduce themselves through bigoted statements, as if this philosophy was the most important and first thing you need to know about them. This book does not pass the Bechdel test. The book is barely worthy of the phrase “portrayal of women”, since there are only portrayals of objects of desire, self-sacrificial lovers and devout mothers.
Before you read this book, please take a look at the content warnings to see how vile it is. I’m shocked and disappointed to see that the average rating is above 4 stars. The content of the book deserves zero stars, however, the well-constructed mystery and beautiful writing elevate it to one or two stars.
Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Hate crime, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Pregnancy
Minor: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Miscarriage, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, War, Classism
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Pregnancy, Classism
Minor: Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Antisemitism, Abortion