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A review by gracecrandall
Revenant Gun by Yoon Ha Lee
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
In regards to sexual assault there is a main character who is implied to have been coerced into sex multiple times, whose feelings of care and arousal are now attached to the one who assaulted him.
That same character is later propositioned by a subordinate. The proposition involves kissing and groping while he is still protesting, and there is a complicated power dynamic going on that means he cannot report the incident to anyone without endangering the subordinates' life. He agrees to sex before anything further happens, and the relationship is treated as consensual until it's revealed that the subordinate was coerced in the first place, and the man who was propositioned thereafter calls himself a rapist.
A character's body is possessed by another character, and used sexually. This is technically a consensual arrangement, but it's not a happy one.
In regards to suicide/suicidal thoughts: a character asks to be killed because he can't live with what he's seen, and another character kills him.
A character reveals a deep trauma and proceeds to shoot himself in the head.
A character tries multiple times to convince others to kill him, either by pleading or making them angry with him. He is finally convinced to try to live and heal by the promise of euthanasia on demand if it ever gets to be too much for him, and this is a comforting enough thought that it seems like he might start to heal.