Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi

238 reviews

ella8ella's review against another edition

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

3.5

I’m conflicted; some of the prose is beautifully written, but I found the
relationship with Alim
both unrealistic and really annoying, with a nihilistic edge. I do think the grief aspect was well-handled. 
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zgreyz's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

love this author’s writing so much.  all the food descriptions made me hungry. 
i’m not usually into age gap romances but this was still cute. love the way it talks about grief. love the depth of the main character. 
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kristenreads's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-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

3.75

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passionatereader78's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful 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

5.0

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jpaulp90's review against another edition

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

2.75

I did not enjoy this book as much as many of my friends even though I flew through it.

I'm finding reviewing it tricky.   I think the book is probably genre-defying, but not in a way I found engaging, and very much at odds to how it is pitched.  There is too much grief for it to be a fun, sexy romance, but too much sexy romance and not enough depth for it to be a tale about clinging to life.

The second half feels a lot like a classical tragedy, but it has a happy ending (definitely by romance standards).
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lisalenton's review against another edition

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lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

2.5

Very easy to read, quite predictable.
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withlivjones's review against another edition

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

4.25

A gorgeous, steamy, messy, emotional read about love and grief. I loved Feyi’s character, how she’s so straightforward and to the point with everyone she talks to and how she uses her grief to power her art, and I really felt for her with everything that happens/has happened to her in the story. I do wish we got to see more of Joy and had her character be a little more fleshed out, but I understand that’s hard to do when she’s on Facetime for most of the book. 
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batbaby's review against another edition

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Just had no motivation to find out more about the characters
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leatherlee's review against another edition

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emotional reflective 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? Yes

3.0

Up to this point, I'd have said Akwaeke Emezi was one of my favorite writers but I had to force myself to finish this book. Whereas their other works were weird and fantastical and riveting, this one was just not interesting to me. A big part of it is that I am apparently always annoyed by romance genre, even if it's thoughtful, (nominally) queer, and written by someone whose other works I adore. 

As a "queer" novel, I feel especially let down because the sex all is very heteronormative. Nothing especially interesting to me personally about a conventionally attractive cis-het couple pairing. The fact of their queerness is downplayed which was a missed opportunity. Bisexuals having unconventional sex could have been explored to great effect and would have probably merited at least one more star from me.
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illustratorsoph's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I loved this book. I found it hard to get into at the start, but purely because the pages are very dense with text. 
This book address grief, loss and trauma brilliantly and the fragility of falling for someone you shouldn't. A person that truly understands that individual and what they've been through, shares their own trauma. Hot & intense build up throughout, so amazingly written. A great book! 

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