Reviews with content warning for Gaslighting - Jenž utopil svět

Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Jenž utopil svět by Shelley Parker-Chan

7 reviews

julie_v_m's review against another edition

2.25

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

evann140's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

helfire124's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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

Content Warnings

throwback682's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

As I’ll mention in the content warnings section below, this book is much more triggering and more violent in specific ways than the first book (She Who Became the Sun) in this duology.

That being said, I couldn’t put it down. I finished this one much more quickly than the first. It was very gripping. The reason I gave it 1/2 star less than its predecessor is just because of the r*pe scenes honestly.

Re: the title

I wondered if the title of the second book referred to the main character of the first book just with a different pronoun but this book focuses more on a different character, who was in the first book but didn’t play such a major role.

He sort of comes from behind unexpectedly and becomes a major player in this installment.

The backstabbing really gets kicked up a notch in this book too.

I kind of thought at one point that the book was getting a bit predictable/tired and then OPE THERE’S A TWIST and then WHOOPS ANOTHER ONE. Hang in there.

The protagonist of the first book continues to beat the odds in unexpected ways as she did before and again it’s spectacular. Also as before, I found myself rooting for and even loving really cruel, dark, awful characters. The author has a talent for coaxing out empathy for the worst baddies.

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Vomit

There is a lot more triggering content in this book than in the first installment of the duology, She Who Became the Sun. Specifically there are multiple rape scenes: - one is marital

as a punishment visited on a wife by her husband

- one is sort of in the context of a gay relationship but

first of all the “relationship” starts off as a manipulation tactic and is coercive and abusive

and secondly

the specific rape scene itself is forcible and in anger.

- another is in the context of a king/consort relationship, which already means consent can’t apply because of the power dynamic, and then

he is purposely trying to hurt her emotionally with the specific rape.

There are also numerous incidents of self harm (many of them are actually perpetrated by someone else, but still falls solidly in the “self harm” category in this context). Like the last book, there is a child who dies -

murdered by a soldier.

He also

has his blood let as proof of life to send to his father to gain his army’s compliance.

I marked both miscarriage and abortion but really it’s neither of those exactly.

A woman is happy about her pregnancy and then another woman gives her poison that ends it without her knowledge or consent.

There’s also someone who has been mutilated.

A servant has her eyes and tongue removed

so that she can be used in a specific way to test someone’s magical powers. There’s also a man who is executed by

being cooked alive in a bamboo steamer.

Yes, the first book was violent and about war and cruelty. But I think this book takes it to another level in several ways. Read with caution.

spootilious's review against another edition

4.0

dark reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Read: December 22, 2023
Title: He Who Drowned the World

Series: The Radiant Emperor #2

Genre: Fantasy / Historical Fiction / LGBT

Rating: 4 / 5
Review:

I occasionally come across a book that I really struggle rating and I was shocked to find that this is one of those books.

I came into He Who Drowned the World with very low expectations. I didn’t care for She Who Became the Sun, for a number of reason listed in my previous review.

However, almost everything that made me dislike She who Became the Sun didn’t make it into the sequel which I am very thankful for. To be honest, I was concerned with the massive amounts of recommendations I received in regard to this series and how many awards She Who Became the Sun has won. I was praying that He Who Drowned the World would make up for what (I felt) was an extremely lacking novel. I was not disappointed.

Parker-Chan is a beautifully talented writer (Which I knew from book 1) and tends to lean towards the very dark and morose. In fact, a bit too dark for my usual taste which may be why I wanted to give this book (He Who Drowned the World) a 3.5 and not a 4. However, Parker-Chan’s ability to write horrific imagery in a such a simplistic and straightforward manner makes the imagery all the more effective. This includes a number of sexually explicit scene, which paints sex as nothing more than a tool, punishment, or means to an end which, while I once again did not like, I can respect. The reader’s response to a story is just as much of a plot device as the sentences on a page. I was appropriately repulsed.

I will also say that I didn’t care much for the lack of morality in ALL the characters in the novel. It left me without a ship to sail and was, perhaps, the main issue that I still hold over from She Who Became the Sun.

All that being said, the fast pace and action-packed plot had me devouring this book, and I could not in good faith rate it lower than 4 simply due to my distaste. (i.e. the 4 star rating is more my personal rating of 3.5 and the acknowledging that some of the reasons it’s a 3.5 is because of my own personal biases against the lack of moral characters, rape, and very dark tones).

Overall, one of the best books I’ve read this year. I will definitely recommend to individuals who love reading Dark Fantasy and Historical Fiction.

QUOTES:

“The most dangerous person in a game is the one nobody knows is playing.”

“Nobody would lift a finger to change the world for us. To make a place for us. What choice did we ever have, but to do it ourselves?”

Content Warnings