Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

House of Cotton by Monica Brashears

19 reviews

jgrayreads's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Abortion

jillaay_h's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, and Abortion

hashbrownhedgehog's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

serenaac's review against another edition

dark emotional tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Grief

kek513's review

dark medium-paced

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

3.0

Most importantly, this is not a horror novel. Horrible things happen, there are grotesque images, and I would call it southern gothic, but the genre of this book is not horror. It's lit fic. I feel a real disservice had been done to a debut author by misrepresenting her book. 

Due to my skewed expectation of this being a horror novel, I felt really let down by this book. I kept waiting and waiting for things to HAPPEN. If I had known this was really lit fic I wouldn't have let that bother me, I could have treated the story as the character exploration that it is. If literary fiction or magical realism is your thing, then I do suggest reading this book. But if horror or deep exploration of societal issues is what you crave, skip this one. It's raw, but it's shallow. 

The writing is gorgeous, the author's words are unique and evocative. I will look for future works by this author, but this novel was a let down. I read someone else say this could have been a novella and I agree. Shave off about  a hundred pages and the gut punch would have been much sharper.

Trigger warnings:

This is a book where a sexual abuse survivor uses hypersexuality to cope. Sex is not sacred and the act is described vividly and often. There is also a lot of drunk driving.  There's also a lot of abortion shaming that just left an ugly taste in my mouth.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Sexual violence, and Abortion

llams's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Abortion, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Rape and Dementia

randareads's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Vomit, Abortion, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

kmoore98's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I liked it and I was confused. That could be my fault. I thought the writing style was great I just wanted more from some of the characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Racism

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Child abuse, Drug use, and Sexual violence

holleysings's review

challenging dark reflective sad 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Abortion, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Classism

jellyfishleila's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Pregnancy