Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

21 reviews

madi_reads13's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic

evarinya's review against another edition

dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

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

3.5

The Good:
It was a quick read - I managed to get through the book with surprising speed, it never felt like it dragged too much or got boring, which was very refreshing after just having read a bunch of books that just felt "too long".
Also the plot itself was... fine? Not too much yet, clearly setting up something bigger, but... it does make me want to read more!
And (spoilers for the last few chapters)

I rather liked the whole Omega Complex X-Men style idea, even if there wasn't too much done with it so far. And Kenji was fun, admittedly.

The Bad:
Some actions felt a bit contrived, like how there always seemed to miraculously be something around Juliette that would help her solve her current issue.
Also - but that's a very personal thing for me - I just don't like dystopian settings too much. Especially those that (spoiler for the last few chapters)

end up becoming "big evil group of people/fascists has all the power but small team of heroes will fight to take them down!" - too many similarities to certian space operas, I presume.

The Ugly:
I, for the love of anything, cannot understand how people hype up Warner that much. I know that there probably will be something up with him in later books, but in this book? He's just a horrible human being. With some depth, sure, and probably his own family trauma, but... That doesn't mean he should get a free pass as to how he constantly manipulated Juliette to turn into what he believes/wants her to be!
And that she partly even accepts this already just because he's good-looking and she sometimes feels sorry for him - just to then in the next paragraph be absolutely disgusted by him again... I don't know. Doesn't really make me want to root for them at all, so far.

I worry how this will turn out in the later books, as a proper redemption arc is really difficult to pull off, but I'm willing to at least check out the next book to see how things will develop.

And again, I didn't hate this book, not by a long shot - I just, perhaps, expected something a little different based on what I have seen fans of this series discuss online... But oh well. I'll see how it goes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gun violence, and Murder

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual harassment

anjh's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

i had high hopes for this book considering how popular it is. it was really good, the writing is incredibly poetic and i think that’s part of what makes it so good. 

i’m not usually that into fantasy and dystopian books but this wasn’t bad, i did enjoy the magical element and didn’t find the world too confusing which i often do. 

i was kind of surprised how much smut was in this lol. as someone who is generally incredibly bored by smut and romance n such i kind of skimmed over it or skipped it but if you are into smutty stuff i def recommend it lol. 

but omg the writing. the crossing out of sentences really added to the poetic style - i loved it. i think the main highlight of this book was the writing style. it was just beautiful 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

laleh_eve's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Abandonment

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Colonisation

Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, and Religious bigotry

yzer2468's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Torture, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Mental illness, Blood, Police brutality, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

neliadiedenise's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

charlottx's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad 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? Yes

2.0

When I started reading this book I really wasn’t a fan but by the end I have been debating reading the next one? 
I didn’t love it but I’m intrigued to see if the story gets better as the series continues? 
I also wasn’t a big fan of the writing style- just personal preference but I know there will be people out there who adore it!! 
Who knows maybe I’ll love the series if I keep reading it but for now a 2.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

karalara's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Cursing, Slavery, Sexual harassment, War, and Classism

Minor: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, and Medical trauma

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No

2.0

I think I missed the time frame where I would have eaten this up.  There's a lot of world building that happens that is super intriguing but the romance element is juvenile (intentionally since it makes sense for the characters) but I cannot stop cringing.

I don't know if I will continue, I might read the Destroy Me novella since it's at the end of my copy from the library and see how I feel about it then.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

saoirse10's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail