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Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'
Strange the Dreamer (Owlcrate Exclusive) by Laini Taylor
22 reviews
aksmith92's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
In these first 10 pages, I was the most confused I've ever been about a book, but thankfully, that passed, and I was swept away in this novel.
We follow a couple of different characters throughout this book - Lazlo Strange, Sarai, Feral, Sparrow, Eril-Fane, Azareen, and Thyon. However, primarily, it's told from a third POV of Lazlo and Sarai. The book is broken up into parts, and the first part is exclusively for Lazlo, a timid and shy librarian who is fascinated with a distant land called Weep. Weep was called something else years ago, but no one can seem to remember the name. So Lazlo buries his mind into other aspects of the land besides the name - its history, the language, and the culture. Suddenly, he finds himself in an opportunity where he can go to Weep and immerse himself even further.
Sarai is a godling(like) who has a power where she can immerse herself in peoples' dreams. She lives in Weep but at the Citadel, which is high up in the sky. Without spoiling anything, the only thing you know about Sarai and four other godlings is that they are kept a secret from Weep citizens due to a slaughter of the gods fifteen years prior. Sarai and the others must keep their identities secret, but they stumble upon an obstacle when Weep citizens and others brainstorm ways to remove the Citadel from the sky.
The only way I can describe the writing is gorgeous, and I absolutely loved the plot and premise. This is a fantastical world that just had me dreaming like those in this novel. The adjectives were vivid, and the characters were beautiful and never perfect in the best way possible. As typical in YA novels, the main characters were a little angsty. I wished Taylor portrayed them as a little bit older (my common qualm, per usual), and I think the love story was a tad bit rushed, but overall, I absolutely loved it. I cannot wait to read the next one in the series/duology!
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Child abuse
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Rape
Minor: Sexual content
Rape is regularly talked about, but it's most inferred, and the recuperation of it, as opposed to it being on page and in detail. That is why it is in Moderate as opposed to the Graphic. Sexual content is minor (PG-13-like) and also semi-inferred (but well-done!)kylemhaggerty's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Blood, Toxic friendship, Death, Kidnapping, Murder, Child death, Colonisation, Rape, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Abandonment, and Fire/Fire injury
xio72's review
4.0
On the negative side:Â
Note that the adult/minor relationship tag refers to a 20-year-old in a romantic relationship with a 17-year-old, which I personally think is close enough in age to be acceptable in the world of this story, although other readers may not agree, as in our real world it seems rather sus for a 3rd year college student to be dating an 11th grader in high school.
There are also descriptions of a sexually active 15-year-old with their teenage lover, plus mentions of another young couple who are sleeping together. All the teenage sex, despite not being graphically described but only alluded to artistically, was rather off-putting because an adult writer should not be encouraging her adolescent readers to engage in sex - it leads to consequences like STDs/STIs, unwanted pregnancies, and emotions that are too complicated for most young people to understand.
This inevitably results in broken hearts and emotional trauma in the majority of cases, which then leads to some (or many) people having difficulty finding love as adults because their teen romances ripped a hole in their heart they've not been able to repair so far. For real, I know people in their 50s who still haven't recovered from their adolescent entanglements and that's why they are single today... and that's why their would-be partner is also single. These are consequences that resulted in the unhappiness of two people (much like Eril-Fane and Azareen in this book, although in their case they had no choice in the matter).
So if you're a teenager reading this review - don't be inspired by the exploits of the young lovers in this book, and instead wait until you're older to chase... "that." You'll have more of a chance to mature and develop so that you also meet somebody mature who can give you the true love you'll want to receive and give in return.
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Racial slurs, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Child abuse, Gore, Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Child death, Confinement, Genocide, Murder, and Racism
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, War, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
lejuletre's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Violence, Abandonment, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Death, Confinement, Pregnancy, Rape, and Misogyny
vagrantheather's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
I loved the bits in Lazlo's dreams. The whole book does have a dreamy, timeless quality.
"Good people do all the things bad people do, Lazlo. It's just that when they do them, they call it justice."
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Xenophobia, and Violence
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, and Genocide
midnightverde's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Blood, Child death, Genocide, Kidnapping, Rape, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Pregnancy
panickedhonking's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Incest, Confinement, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Rape, Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Child death, Death of parent, Death, and Emotional abuse
victorious_one's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Genocide, Rape, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy
traceyanderson's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Moderate: Child death, Death, Sexual violence, Slavery, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Genocide, Sexual content, and Violence
maeverose's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
The story was fun. The writing is super pretty and atmospheric. So many quotes i wanted to highlight. It was very easy for me to imagine what was being described, and i loved that. I like Lazlo a lot as a character. I like anything to do with dreams so I loved that that was a big part of the story.
Things I didn’t like:
Sarai’s chapters/the citadel chapters felt super repetitive, at least in the beginning. I was often pretty bored during those chapters. As much as I love the writing, it is overwritten at times. I think this book should’ve been about 100 pages shorter, the pacing is very slow for most of it. Also the reveals were pretty predictable but I guess that’s not super surprising for YA. It’s also very instalove. Very mild spoilers for this next part (it doesn’t have to do with the main romance, just side characters): I didn’t like the non consensual kiss played off as funny because it was a girl doing it to a guy. If the roles were reversed I don’t think it would’ve gone down the same… It’s still sexual assault no matter who’s doing it. And then when it happens again later it was still very dubious consent at first. Idk it made me feel gross.
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Blood, Child death, Death, Rape, Slavery, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Gore, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
There was frequent mention of female fertility and ‘becoming a woman’ once you bleed. Personally it made me uncomfortable, as an afab non binary person with zero desire to ever get pregnant.