Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Dune by Frank Herbert

48 reviews

katie0528's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-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

4.0

A sci-fi classic. I've blown this off for years thinking I knew enough by how elements have trickled down into pop culture. However after watching the two new movies, I decided to give the book a chance. I see now why it is a classic that so many other sci-fi franchises draw from. It largely holds up. Of course as a book from the 60s, there are elements that are a little cringe to a modern reader and there are elements and small plot lines that could have been cut for the sake of brevity, but over all I was impressed with the book. I think it helped that the audiobook had a full cast to help me keep track of who was who. I suspect some of the minor characters may have blended together otherwise.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Murder, and War

Minor: Child death, Slavery, and Torture

yzvt's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Misogyny, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Rape, Slavery, Torture, and Trafficking

jester_k's review against another edition

adventurous challenging slow-paced

2.5

I wanted to like this mainly because my Dad loved it when he read it as a teen. But the story was so slow-moving that it didn't grip me and I didn't find the glossary til right at the end so a lot of things went way over my head. The Harkonnens are depicted as disgustingly evil but the fact they have slaves and enjoy murder and rape is put on a level with the fact that the Baron is... just fat. It's constantly focused on to show how gross he is and I struggled to enjoy the rest of the book with this deep-seated fatphobia. 

Also, Paul starts the book being kind and compassionate and ends up becoming an awful tyrant so I stopped being able to root for him at all. I'm sure that's part of the point but it didn't leave me with any characters to enjoy the perspective of. Then he won and it was mostly just depressing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia

Moderate: Child death, Death, Drug use, Sexism, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Grief

sea_tea_books's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense

3.0

The worldbuilding was decent, I can say that much. Otherwise, I felt this was far longer than necessary with too many characters to keep track of. I also found it strange that the author did not explain any backstory for the reader; rather, the story appears to start in the middle. 

I would have preferred more information about the technology and engineering of these future civilizations. How did Earthlings go from landing on the moon to

intergalactic eugenics and war

? Where was the science in this science fiction?

A lot of heavy themes in this book club pick:

religion, addiction, cults, war, politics, misogyny, eugenics, sexual harassment

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Relevant quote:

“When religion and politics travel in the same cart, the riders believe nothing can stand in their way. Their movements become headlong - faster and faster and faster. They put aside all thoughts of obstacles and forget the precipice does not show itself to the man in a blind rush until it's too late.”

Frank Herbert, Dune (Dune, #1), 1965

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Pedophilia and Death of parent

Minor: Child death and Incest

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Well, if that isn't the spiciest book I've ever read.

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

All jokes aside, I wasn't expecting to cry while reading this book but dang, it got me in my feels.  I was familiar enough with the plot due to seeing so many versions of it, including the most recent adaption, and while the adaptions are quite faithful, there was nuance that was omitted and I appreciated the journey of reading this to find those little bits.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Slavery, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

viktoriann's review against another edition

adventurous reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Genocide, Hate crime, Sexism, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Grief, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Cursing, Incest, Misogyny, and Slavery

rachaelbunny's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fatphobia, Genocide, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Death of parent, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Pedophilia, Rape, Slavery, and Suicide

crimsonash606's review against another edition

adventurous challenging reflective slow-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? Yes

5.0

This book is such a beautiful blend of cultures and the in depth ecology of a planet that continually shocks you with the life within it. There's so much political intrigue and pondering human nature and how to do the most good, and it's one of the most complex and incredible things I've ever read. I highly recommend this to anyone with a stomach for a challenge.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, War, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

jelliclejules's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Genocide, Sexism, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Minor: Child death, Incest, Pedophilia, and Trafficking

abigail_adel's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia and Homophobia

Moderate: Racism and Sexism