Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

The Devourers by Indra Das

21 reviews

reeb's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Sexual assault, Blood, Violence, Sexual content, Rape, Pregnancy, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Excrement, and Death

talonsontypewriters's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Animal death, Body horror, Cannibalism, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Violence, Death, Murder, Rape, and Death of parent

Moderate: Kidnapping, Child death, Abandonment, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Sexism, War, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Vomit

Minor: Classism, Homophobia, Transphobia, Colonisation, Abortion, Dysphoria, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, and Racism

Smoking. Urination. Discussion of and explicit descriptions of rape, as well as depiction of aftermath, but no extended scene. Sexual coercion, victim blaming/justification of rape (by character; criticized by others and narrative), discrimination against sex workers. Pregnancy and birth by rape. Decapitation. Metaphorical mentions of bestiality. Sexual relationships in a shapeshifter-unique dynamic compared to but not necessarily equivalent to parent-child dynamics, where one party has sometimes been raised by the other since youth; discussed and alluded to, but not graphically shown on-page.

unsaidwish's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

2.5

I don't fully know what I was thinking when I picked this for my book club. All that stands out for me is standalone fantasy, werewolves, written by an Indian author and inspired by Indian folklore. Sounds amazing, right? This one was much more "meh" for me than I had hoped. At every mention of urine I thought of my friend who did not enjoy Stephen Chbosky's Imaginay Friend, because the author was obessessed with mentioning urine. Sorry friend, I somehow found another urine obsessed book to force you to read.. I will say the only story I really cared about what the story within a story. I enjoyed Fenrir, Cyrah, and Gevaudan way more than whatever the heck was happening in the present time story. I think the historical story could have been flushed out a bit more and with more background and culture building with the supernatural beings there would have been a full book with no need for the present time story. The coolest tie-in, for me, was I had just read [book:River Kings: A New History of the Vikings from Scandinavia to the Silk Roads|61397370] discussing the movements of Vikings to the East. I loved that Fenrir was a Northman and the Rus were mentioned. All of this tied together for me with the history of the Vikings movement and interaction with peoples of the East and I loved seeing that represented in a way in this novel - not something I'd expected to see. But really outside of that.. I didn't fully enjoy this book like I'd hoped.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Gore

mossgoblins's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, and Pregnancy

erosabsens's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Blood, Gore, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

aardwyrm's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

Like all the best horror, weird, gross, kinda horny, never fully explained, rich and dreadful and spooky and gory, gets its claws in and won't let go. Warning: One of the POV characters is a rapist. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Cannibalism, Classism, Rape, Child death, Death, Drug use, Excrement, Homophobia, Suicide, Violence, War, Abortion, Animal death, Body horror, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Kidnapping, Stalking, Vomit, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, and Torture

kaabtik's review

adventurous challenging dark 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

4.25

From the prose to the stories within stories within stories, The Devourers was something that was difficult to get through (affectionate). I'm wholly invested in stories where the characters' fates have been sealed from their very introductions, ghosts haunting the stories they reside in—them being both the empty house and the spirits it gives shelter to.

It gives an interesting new spin on old folktales, stretching and twisting their origins that make sense for the people in the story and for us as readers to connect to our own beliefs. Thoroughly enjoyed reading it, though at times it was difficult due to the content. It was everything up my alley and it did not disappoint at all.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Death, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Vomit

Minor: Excrement, Panic attacks/disorders, and Pregnancy

citrusuniverse's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

Everything I loved from anne rice's vampires novels(erotic dependency, toxic relationships, enemies for ages, immortality as a curse) plus the grit and gore of a werewolf story, and themes of decolonization/rebellion in past and present India. I can't understate how filthy and thrilling this book is, how it moves from scorchingly fierce and painful to earnestly reflective with simmering tension between the listener and the narrator. I love this book, relish the complicated relationship between different types of love, your body and the carnal parts of ourselves.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Violence

alt_air's review against another edition

adventurous 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Gore

Moderate: Rape

rorikae's review

dark 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

4.0

‘The Devourers’ by Indra Das follows the story of shapeshifting creatures in India through two narratives translated by a college professor. 
The frame story focuses on Alok, a college professor who encounters a stranger one night in Kolkata who starts to tell him a story. The stranger asks Alok to translate two scrolls, which tell the stories of a shapeshifting creature and the woman that he is obsessed with. These stories weave together with the frame narrative to create a fable that leaks into the present. 
Das creates a fable that is wrapped in rich prose. His use of language is easy to understand but evocative. I listened to this book on audio and it leant itself to that format. 
Though the characters in the story aren’t necessarily likable, I was still interested in what was going to happen to them. The story is very focused on the two narratives that are told through the scrolls so we don’t get as much characterization for the professor in the frame narrative as I would have liked. Das discusses a number of themes in this work including hunger, obsession, and the influence of others on our own personalities. This last theme is explored in a visceral way through the fact that the shape-shifting creatures, sometimes called werewolves, sometimes something more, gain the memories of the humans that they eat. 
I would recommend this book, particularly if you are looking for stories steeped in folklore and with rich writing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Rape, Sexual content, and Violence