Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Germinal by Émile Zola

9 reviews

adelekittey's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual assault, Child death, Death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Violence, and Toxic relationship

bookwormcat's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Classism, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Child death, Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Rape, Bullying, Grief, Stalking, and Physical abuse

teoman753's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence and Violence

shieldbearer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

5.0

I read this because it was on Suzanne Collins' list of favorite books and I can absolutely see why. I can think of several scenes in the Hunger Games that this book likely influenced.  This book is, above all else, a cautionary tale: any leftist revolution must beware two pitfalls; the first being the desire to replace and not eradicate the masters, the second being infighting. 

In many ways, this book reminds me of the best of Stephen King. Zola is not interested in sanitizing characters. He is interested in telling the story of humans- messy, imperfect, often terrible, often selfless, humanity. Violence is not just the impact of force upon flesh and bone, it is the deprivation and exploitation of human beings. Germinal is the story of how abject, desperate poverty can influence a person.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Addiction, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Classism, Domestic abuse, Dementia, Alcohol, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Medical content, Bullying, Mass/school shootings, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Animal cruelty, Ableism, Infertility, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Incest, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Rape, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Murder, Death, Misogyny, Police brutality, Child death, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, and Sexual assault

elodiepoline404's review against another edition

dark informative sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Rape, Death, Sexual assault, Sexism, Dementia, Confinement, Animal death, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Physical abuse, and Infidelity

deslauriers's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Animal death

Moderate: Sexual assault

halfpricessword's review against another edition

informative sad tense slow-paced

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

0.25

I red this shit for school and I totally hate it. It was very slow to red and I lost a lot of time in this shit. The main character is increvable, this fdp ne die jamais and he me tape sur les nerves. Madame Godwin, never again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Torture, Child death, Gun violence, Murder, Rape, Violence, Animal death, and Child abuse

strawberrydream's review against another edition

challenging sad medium-paced

5.0

A terribly bleak story which draws you in and keeps you wanting to read more. I love Zola’s style, this is the first of his I have read despite wanting to for a while. The characters are interesting and can leave a sour taste on your tongue, but ultimately you feel yourself within them. Catherine, in particular, was the character who I kept wanting to hear more of. Her story is tragic, and like she frequently comments, not unique. This is my mum’s copy that she read when she was about my age and from looking at her collection, it’s very much her taste- dark and depressing! Anyway, this got me out of my reading slump and was a very good read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Death

Moderate: Rape

justanotherayesha's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gore, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Torture, and Violence