Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell

8 reviews

katherinehamilton's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

gordosaurusrex's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

The Winter King is an interesting read. A historical fiction that doesn't shy from the history of the period (or what we know about it at least). Cornwell has obviously done his homework, but I found the endless names and places a little hard to follow at times, and only a select few characters lasted enough in my head to have any clue as to who they were when they showed up. It took me a while to get through it, and although the story beats were interesting, the focus on it being historically accurate while also being a retelling of what could have been the inspiration of Arthurian Legend means there is a whole ton of stuff to keen track of, and to keep the story moving and readable, could have been done away with!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and War

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Torture

unluckycat13's review against another edition

Really vile, sexist stuff in this one. Not because it's historically accurate mind you, they never are when it comes to women. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

bookish_tucker's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual assault, Slavery, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail

nerdkitten's review

adventurous dark 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Excrement, Pregnancy, and Colonisation

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Drug use, Infertility, Pedophilia, Torture, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Abortion, and Classism

caskeene's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and War

Moderate: Animal death and Sexual assault

Minor: Child death

novelideea's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, and War

seanml's review

adventurous dark informative tense slow-paced

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

4.0

The Once and Future King is my favorite book. To call this A Tale of Arthur and then have the narrative focus on a warrior named Derfel? It is certainly a bold move, but I think in the end it is a good choice. Trying to base the historically spotty, retroactively-Christian narrative of Arthur in the actual post-Roman dark ages of Britain is no easy task. But Cornwell’s attention to historical detail and respect of it makes for a very fun and interesting read. As long as you can stomach historical sexism and misogyny, which I wouldn’t blame you for skipping.

Also, this Lancelot is wildly different from T. H. White’s, which I didn’t expect. What a dick. 8/10.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Racism, Slavery, Grief, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pregnancy

Minor: Vomit, Cannibalism, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol