Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Daughters of Izdhar by Hadeer Elsbai

8 reviews

bonriki's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring slow-paced

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

3.0

This is a book that I read and I have no real feelings about it. Reads like YA despite being adult fantasy, it’s overly simplistic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Classism, Police brutality, Biphobia, and Sexism

Moderate: Homophobia

cardanrry's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Death, Classism, Violence, Sexism, Police brutality, and Misogyny

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Abortion

katbenimble's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.5

My biggest complaint about this book is that the sequel isn't our 🤣😭.
Overall, I loved the characters and the magic and also the revolution piece.  Will be very interested to see where the story goes in book 2!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Police brutality, Classism, Bullying, Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, and Gun violence

Minor: Abortion, Sexual assault, and War

ellieanor's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Sexism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Violence and Sexual harassment

ender24's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Classism, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Murder, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, War, Xenophobia, Ableism, Biphobia, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Grief, Gun violence, Lesbophobia, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Outing, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, and Violence

starrysteph's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

2.5

The Daughters of Izdihar is filled with elemental magic, female rage, and freedom fighters. However, to me it fell a bit flat and didn’t bring anything new to the genre.

We follow two young women from very different backgrounds in an Egyptian-inspired magical world. 

Nehal is the wealthy daughter of an aristocrat, forced into an arranged marriage in order to save her family from financial ruin. But what she truly wants is to nurture her waterweaving skills and someday join the first ever all-female regiment of the army. 

Giorgina is a poor bookshop worker, struggling to suppress her uncontrollable earth weaving power. She’s in love with a man who cannot publicly be with her and secretly writes for the Daughters of Izdihar, a women’s rights group.

Both women connect unexpectedly as they yearn for women’s equality and struggle to make their own choices and live (& love) freely.

The writing wavered at times - it feels very clear to me that this is a debut. Sentences were often a bit choppy or repetitive, dialogue was unnatural, and the plot felt familiar to many other fantasy reads (elemental magic has been done so often & it wasn’t really included in a new way here).

It was a bit draining to input all the sexism, and to see the women’s rights group fall into the same cycles. New protest idea, it gets squandered by men and/or corrupt politicians and police, women have to reformulate, and so on. This is most of the book, and it’s copied & pasted straight from history.

I also felt like Nehal was a stronger character - with a bit more character development. I was antsier reading from Giorgina’s POV, and didn’t care much for her conflict with her love interest. It felt like she was just one-dimensionally tossed in to suffer at the hands of various men. Contrastingly, Nehal’s growth (both in uncovering the realities of her world and discovering her sexuality) was more engaging.

But even so - the queer plotlines (Nehal’s and a random side character who shows up at two convenient moments) felt underdeveloped. And Nehal’s impulsivity grew a little tiring, alongside her unbelievably fast rise in skill with waterweaving. She also NEVER faced any consequences for her harmful actions … and it’s not particularly clear why she desires to be part of the women’s rights movement in the first place. She can’t even be bothered to read the magazines. 

I felt like there were interesting ideas here - with the setting and with the characters - that simply weren’t explored enough. 

CW: sexism, misogyny, murder, death, homophobia, lesbophobia, police brutality, sexual harassment, sexual assault, classism, gun violence, grief, war, abortion

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(I received a free copy of this book; this is my honest review.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Murder, Sexual harassment, Classism, Body shaming, War, Abortion, Misogyny, Gun violence, Death, Homophobia, Confinement, Lesbophobia, Police brutality, Sexism, and Grief

teatowel's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

3.5

I just couldn't help comparing this book to Avatar the Last Airbender. The setting, so oppressive towards women and LGBTQ+, made it hard for me to get into this book. It just made me sad whenever I read, but towards the last hundred pages the pace picked up.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, War, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, and Violence

takarakei's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

4.0

Glad I can finally post my review since the HC strike is over and a fair contract has been voted on!

 

Feminine Rage. F the Patriarchy in every way. 

Nehal is an amazing protagonist - I love her (she gave me minor Rin from The Poppy War flashbacks). Her rage is so palpable to read. Georgina and Nehal both become involved with the Daughters of Izdihar which is a women's rights/suffragette group, and things get interesting.  I hope we get to see more of the very cool magic system in the next book, and more of the school or characters learning how to use their power. 

FYI: There is a lot of misogyny/sexism throughout this book. It is very severe and almost constant. I don't discount the book for that as it is unfortunately still a reflection of the world we live in today, and I believe we need books like this to bring that fact to the forefront. Just know that going into this book don't expect to be escaping the harsh realities of patriarchal oppression while reading. Refer again to the title of my review!

I look forward to reading the sequel (this is supposed to be a duology)!

2/5 🌶️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Sexism, Police brutality, and Misogyny

Moderate: Violence, Grief, Gun violence, Death, and Sexual assault

Minor: Abortion, Animal death, and Classism

*animal death - butchers of animals mentioned very briefly