Reviews with content warning for Rape - Cantik itu Luka

Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Cantik itu Luka by Eka Kurniawan

69 reviews

vajaakirjahylly's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

An interesting read with a lot of history of Indonesia. It kept me hooked and I at some level enjoyed it but at the same time the content is so crazy and has so many warnings that I consider was it really necessary to have all that in the story.

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decoachwife's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

madde's review against another edition

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medium-paced

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

2.0

CW: sexual violence, rape

I am very conflicted on how to rate this. I did enjoy the writing and storytelling overall. But the way Kurniawan writes women was not enjoyable to read. I wanted to like the female characters, but they were given very little personality.

There were also so many scenes of rape and sexual violence that felt gratuitous. Almost every male character falls in love with a female who is still a child.

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bethanylouise17's review against another edition

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challenging dark medium-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

1.25

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emilyberrios's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny informative mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I don't regret reading this book, but it was certainly a challenge, and I do not plan on ever re-reading it.

In simplest terms: If toxic masculinity were a book, it would be this one. If you thought this book was about the agency of strong beautiful women... you are very wrong (as I was).

A more complex perspective: This book could also be interpreted as a metaphor. The female characters have no agency, no control over their futures or their bodies. Their beauty is to be brutalized and fetishized. These beautiful women could be a metaphor for Indonesia as a country and the various powers or men who colonized it, waged war against it, loved it, hated it, abused it. While the story telling is not linear (and sometimes very difficult to follow) generally speaking, this is a historical fiction in a magical realism setting which follows generations of women who originate from a girl taken into servitude as the concubine of a Dutch man, a plantation owner. This initiates the overarching plot of revenge, but all the subplots as well. The colonial identity of a country is generally mired in trauma and abuse, and this book reflects that.

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