Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

The Traitor by Seth Dickinson

11 reviews

liokamino's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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

perfect fucking book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Outing, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

thesunthesunthesunthesun's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I'll try to write a proper review later, when I've recovered. This book killed me, revived me, and then killed me again. Everything fits perfectly it just,, had to happen like that there was no escaping this.

My partner thrust this book in my hands yesterday with the request to read "just chapter one, and then let me know what you think :)". I finished it in 2 days (mostly because general life got in the way). I'm still reeling. This book is etched into my brain now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, and Cannibalism

searobin's review against another edition

2.5

The book itself was ok, aside from the plot...

I did not love the queer indigenous woman suppresses her sexuality and aids the colonisers to fully colonise another nation in order to somehow maybe save her own nation eventually story line

I got a bit lost in all the dukes and dutcheses and territories, so some moments were probably less poignant than they were supposed to be, but I got the gist.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

iellv's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Beautiful, stunning, gut-wrenching writing. Brutal and unflinching and yet still painfully human, for all of that talk about machines and scalpels. I didn’t expect to love this book as much as I did; I’m hilariously terrible at math and accountancy, but I do have a weak spot for buff women, pathetic men, and geopolitics. The book is so much more than these things, because it focuses on the horrors of empire, and the impossible choices it might present you. Terrifying and intoxicating. The illusion of control and freedom and all of that in the face of omnipresence—the hand that moves all. IMO the book EXCELLED when it came to these things where it obviously fell flat in others (pacing, lesbianism, women, emotion, introspection, consistency, even etymology and the usage of certain words—although these were lacking, they didn’t bother me so much… but you can already tell from my rating. If you come into this remembering Seth Dickinson is a cishet? white man, I think you’ll find this to be a pretty solid effort lmao. Seriously. Consider other similar works written by cishet white men. This was great compared to those! It’s not even white mediocrity; I do genuinely still believe the book is often brilliant.)

Gosh I wish I had more to say and I wish I could be more articulate about it, but this book ripped my heart out and made me swallow it and laughed at my expense, probably. Maybe I’ll post a better review when I reread it.

KINDLY HEED ALL CONTENT WARNINGS.

RIP Muire Lo, Unuxekome, Lyxaxu, and Oathsfire, my nerdy/disappointing/cringefail men. I would have liked to give Muire Lo a little kiss, plague and all. Sorry you ended up being secretary to the worst girlboss to ever girlboss. RIP Ihuake and Nayauru, baddest bitches. RIP to all the horses bc I definitely did not like reading abt animals dying in so much detail. 
Lastly… nvm I don’t even want to think about Xate Olake and Tain Hu. Damn you Seth Dickinson.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia, Colonisation, and War

yourwitcher's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia, War, and Classism

Minor: Torture

jjjreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Acephobia/Arophobia, Murder, Lesbophobia, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Classism, and Deportation

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

theirgracegrace's review against another edition

challenging mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.75

The Traitor Baru Cormorant asks the hard questions about what it means to rule in a way that very few court intrigues ever have. Baru's homeland has been conquered by the Masquerade, and she has spent her life preparing to take it down. But in order to get to the heart of its government, she needs to prove herself as the capable and brilliant ruler she is. Filled with enough worldbuilding and plot twists to keep Baru and the reader constantly guessing, I can say with certainty that I'll never read the likes of this book again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Gun violence and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Cancer, Cannibalism, and Cultural appropriation

jurizprudence's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

pov: you open this expecting a witty review and plot summary but are instead greeted by a video of me screaming sobbing throwing up etc for 30 minutes straight

but really. this book is a masterpiece that examines an in-depth portrayal of colonization, morality, political machinations, and the horrors of empire. it's about a super smart and super repressed gay accountant and her singular goal to avenge her family and free her homeland by rising high enough in the Masquerade’s hierarchy to destroy it from within. lots of economics, finance, and monetary polices that will challenge your mind. the prose is immaculate and the plot and twists were finely executed. really dark and gritty, it tackles colonialism and its tolls on the oppressed and subjugated in a realistic way, and because of that, it is not an easy read. cw for almost everything, because this book (the whole series itself) does not hold back from horrifying topics. honestly one of the best books i've read, and i'm already calling it, also one of my favorite reads this year.

read this if you like smart and clever heroines, political intrigue, tragic sapphic romance, grotesque amount of pain and betrayal, and long-lasting emotional damage. the main ship can jam to my tears ricochet ‼

read this and get ready to be devastated by dashing lesbians with unlimited loyalty. come join me and come cry with me :'(

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Genocide, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia, and War

Moderate: Gore, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Animal death and Trafficking

librarianmage's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

hwaet the fuck
this was a really rough read and the ending, oh wow

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Sexism, Transphobia, Violence, and War

Moderate: Death, Sexual violence, and Medical trauma

Eugenics

mayaccountant's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Genocide, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, and Suicide attempt