Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

The Devourers by Indra Das

7 reviews

poisoned_icecream's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Child death, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Rape, Death of parent, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Death, Gore, Excrement, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexism, Sexual assault, Stalking, and Violence

mle11's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexism, Sexual assault, Blood, Cannibalism, Stalking, Violence, Cursing, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Animal death, Rape, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Biphobia, Excrement, Homophobia, Vomit, Hate crime, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Kidnapping, and Self harm

Minor: Colonisation and Drug use

ominousspectre's review

5.0

I had to sit with this one for a bit before reviewing it. Ultimately, this was a beautiful albeit challenging read. I loved the exploration of sense of self and how we are shaped by those around us and those long gone. Along with the existential desire to create rather than devour, Das delivers a punishing tale of how we can overcome the evils that have been done to us and transform into something more than our past selves. I've seen some worrying critiques of this book that I'm going to rant about next, so feel free to 'i ain't reading all that. happy for you though. or sorry that happened.'

In reading other reviews on this book, I was shocked and saddened to see some people claiming this was somehow a proponent of certain, unforgivable acts

Cyrah's rape or the kidnapping of the baul girl

. I worry sometimes that we've come to a place of media literacy where writing about certain, horrific things without a character explicitly stating in bold face, THIS IS WRONG, is then somehow assumed to be supported or forgiven by the author. Sexual assault is in no way forgiven by the narrative. In fact, the survivor is not only able to give their abuser the reckoning they deserve, but the survivor overcomes their trauma and becomes more than just a victim. They quite literally have the true metamorphosis, and are ultimately THE protagonist of this story. The HERO of this story. As a survivor of sexual abuse, it horrifies me that anyone could read this and see it as the author excusing or forgiving the act itself.

The same goes for

Izrail's kidnapping and ultimate killing of the baul girl

. In an exploration of the moral ambiguity inside all of us, this plotline AGAIN is in no way forgiving this character. They themselves talk about how they fell into the same patterns as their father and how ashamed they were. In the cycle of intergenerational trauma, sometimes people become the very thing that hurt them in the first place. The character's acknowledgment of it and eventual change (over several centuries lol) is meant to provide a little hope that perhaps somehow, even after doing horrible things, we can break that cycle.

Overall, I worry about this black and white way of thinking of all characters must be Good or Bad and anyone who isn't the pinnacle of humanity must be properly punished by the narrative to prove that it's not an endorsement. I hate when authors slam me over the head with what they want to say, and you should too. I also think people should be open to reading uncomfortable things, and not immediately writing something off without fully digesting it in its entirety.

TLDR: the puriteens are at it again and as a survivor myself, this book was viscerally beautiful and deserving of a full read.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, and Sexual harassment

There's also a lot of pee in this book. because idk, they're werewolves. I did kinda hate this too lol but I understand why the author added this in.

sammysamsam's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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? No

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Gore, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Kidnapping, Murder, Body horror, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Rape, Violence, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Racism, Vomit, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, and Self harm

Minor: Homophobia and Transphobia

triforcefusion's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

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

2.25

This was a very, very odd read. I applaud the writing, and the mythology building. I could do without the very Freudian psycho-sexual aspect that permeates the book, especially the practice

of the Devourers grooming their newly made, or born, shapeshifters into then having a sexual relationship</spolier>. I also have a hard time with the author identifying as a cis male and writing about a woman's sexual assault and then making the whole book a metaphor for

transgenderism

. I see that people praise the way he handles it, but I felt like the metaphor is really twisted an dark, and the

transgender reveal

feels like "Oh, this kinda fits" without considering the unredeemable nature of the Devourers. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Violence, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Murder, Self harm, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Death of parent, and Vomit

Piss and urination happens a lot

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

---

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.

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. 

---

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