Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

4 reviews

purechaos's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Gore, Child abuse, Colonisation, Hate crime, Slavery, Child death, Confinement, Kidnapping, Murder, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Rape, Violence, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, War, Self harm, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Classism, Cursing, and Death

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

leyza052's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Sexual violence

internalnonsense's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

A beautiful, heart-warming and heart-rending YA adventure. It is tropey in the best way, refreshing a hero's journey with a West African-inspired fantasy setting, filling it with meaning informed by very present struggles. It has a strong sense of adventure, companionship, humor, but it is ultimately about children, growing up trying to survive a violent world ruled by oppression, given a chance to change it. It demands empathy, but an empathy that does not excuse. 

.25 off for a character who would have benefited from having a POV, because, as is, he's flat, more there for conflict than character. Also, a section in the middle of the book, while having some significantly cool scenes, felt far too disconnected from the rest, almost filler-like. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Genocide

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual violence, and Sexual content

Minor: Alcohol, Cursing, and Fatphobia

ehmannky's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was a wild ride and I loved it. Zélie is a member of the oppressed magi class, hated because of their magic lineage. Together with her brother Tzain, and her newfound friend and runaway princess Amari, she rushes across Orisha in an attempt to bring magic back to the land. The book toggles between Zélie, Amari, and Inan's (the crown prince) points of view. I don't particularly know how I feel about Inan's POV, as he continues to irritate me, but I do think it adds an interesting level to your understanding of the plot and internalized hatred of oneself.

I've made no secret of my love for female protagonists that are unabashedly angry at the world, and the protagonist Zélie was so angry all the damn time I loved it. Adeyemi writes a brilliant afterward that creates a tie between real-world events (the murder of black people at the hands of police) to the anger in her novel. The book does have very brief mentions of sexual violence and a whole lot of physical violence/torture and death. If those are not things you would like to read, then perhaps this book isn't for you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Slavery, Genocide, and Death

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual violence