Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese

26 reviews

redheadorganist's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Infidelity, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, and Death of parent

gracescanlon's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring 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

4.75

As a woman with multiple forms of synesthesia and with family members who also have it, a historical fiction story told from the perspective of a woman with synesthesia is so up my alley, it may as well have been written for me. 

I found Isobel’s descriptions of her experiences with her own synesthesia quite believable. I haven’t had such vibrant experiences myself since I was a girl, but I remember them, and still have smaller, less dramatic ones. Whether Ms. Albanese has synesthesia or not, I found her portrayals of it, especially how it touches every part of life, to ring true. Well done!

This would have been a five-star read, but I felt that the story was rushed in some places. That rush led to a lack of development and depth in characters and their relationships with one another. I think if more time had been devoted to building and expanding upon these, it would've enriched the novel - and earned five stars from me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Addiction, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, and Colonisation

Minor: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Medical content, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

laurenlee2158's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

spineofthesaurus's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gun violence, Incest, Excrement, Vomit, and Medical content

atamano's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Drug abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, and Classism

Moderate: Slavery, Toxic relationship, Blood, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Minor: Sexual content, Vomit, and Death of parent

haley49's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy

Minor: Death, Rape, Sexual content, Abortion, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

annailles's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Slavery, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Drug abuse, Sexual content, and Death of parent

laheath's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.0

Although I had fantastic English teachers in high school, I remember the study of The Scarlet Letter being dry though the story was pretty good overall.  This book imagines the origin of Hawthorne's inspiration for that book.  With the inclusion of such details as strong female characters, references to the Salem witch trials and the Underground Railroad, and issues such as classism, equality, and freedom, this is a very interesting story of a woman making her way in the world with her own gifts.

Unfortunately, once again, the audiobook does not include the author's notes, which I've been told detail her research.  These should never be left out of audiobooks!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity

Moderate: Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Slavery, Religious bigotry, Abortion, and Pregnancy

Minor: Drug use, Sexual content, and Classism

micaelamariem's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.0

This book had really good writing but the plot didn’t get too interesting until the last third. I’m sorry but I don’t find things about stitching and dressmaking interesting. Of course there was a lot more to it than that but that seemed to have the majority of the descriptions 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

chandrayisaacson's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

Evocative description, made me want to embroider everything I own. Strong women! Satisfying ending. Subtle magic. Interesting magical realism.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Abortion, and Colonisation

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Grief, and Death of parent