Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Rosewater by Tade Thompson

8 reviews

mine_gerber's review against another edition

dark funny tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Infidelity, Torture, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia and Stalking

lilacs_book_bower's review against another edition

challenging mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

I struggled on the rating for this one.  It has a non-linear structure, as we flash back and forth in the main protagonist Kaaro's life.  I really liked that and how it slowly let the mystery and the world building unfold.  I liked the setting in Nigeria, the city of Rosewater, the mysterious alien dome, and Kaaro's and the other sensitive's powers to see into people's minds.  There are a lot of interesting plot threads at play here, Kaaro's powers, the xenosphere, Aminat's brother, the dome itself...  However, Kaaro is not a likable character (tbf, everyone in the book, even Kaaro, seems to know this, but personally for me, I find that more challenging in a book); he is obsessed with sex and objectifies nearly every woman and wants to have sex with them.  Kaaro's relationship with Aminat feels insta-lovey, and why would she even like him?  The revelation that someone is killing the sensitives doesn't happen until halfway through the book, and I felt that is should have come sooner to amp up the urgency of the story.  Lastly, I might be alone in this going by other reviews, but I thought the end was a let down, even knowing that this is a trilogy.  I was surprised that was all there was to the book's climax; I was surprised the book was over, as it felt very abrupt.  I was expecting more.  Overall though, I really did enjoy the book and would recommend it.  I hope to read the sequels.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

maricasement's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

3.75

I have conflicted feelings about this book. I went into it knowing only what was written on the blurb and was really excited for the story. The story is told in first person and as the main character (Kaaro) was introduced I got even more excited because I thought they were an interesting, if a bit misogynistic, female character. Alas, Kaaro turned out to be an arrogant and irritating misogynistic male character. My dislike for him was increased by being immersed in his inner thoughts and his obliviousness to his faults. However, I do understand why the author made the choice to use the first person perspective as it becomes more relevant and important in setting the scene as the book progresses.
Because of my dislike for Kaaro, the first half of the book dragged. There was a lot being set up at the start as well, and this meant that the book took a while to grip me. Once the book revealed an awareness of Kaaro's faults and the mystery started to take shape, I started enjoying the book a bit more. Don't get me wrong, Kaaro is still a character I dislike, but the other (female) characters, the plot and the world building now have me hooked.
I will probably read the next in the series, as it seems to be told from a different character's perspective and I would love to learn more about the world Tade Thompson has crafted.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Vomit, and War

adamjeffson's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Blood, and Vomit

therainbowshelf's review

mysterious slow-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? Yes

4.0

The world building is excellent. I liked the shared mindspace created by alien fungus and enjoyed the book being set in Nigeria. The plot lost me a few times, but that's mostly because it was hard following the time jumps (between audio and the way I tend to process information). The side characters needed more characterization. I kept forgetting which woman was which. I did enjoy when one character told Kaaro that a woman in his life wasn’t a side character in his story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Sexism, Blood, Medical content, and Alcohol

skudiklier's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.5

This book was super interesting! I had a weird experience reading it because I did so very slowly and deliberately, which is unusual for me. It was somewhat dark and not entirely what I expected. But I hope to read the rest of the trilogy eventually!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Confinement, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Child death, Fatphobia, Genocide, Homophobia, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Islamophobia, Car accident, Colonisation, and War

atarihehe's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative mysterious 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

4.25

I enjoyed reading this book. At first it was quite slow and hard to get invested into but after about 25% I was really into the story. I don't really mind books with forward-backward storylines but this one has like three or four timelines and they're not always in the same structure throughout the book so sometimes I need to think and count. The main character is a complicated dude. He's not very likeable, but not unlikeable either as he has many many flaws and basically a criminal past but he has his own weird philosophy in life. I went into this book quite blindly since I've forgotten about it after buying it months ago so I was pleasantly surprised by a lot of things. I like the science-y aspect of it, I like the multilayered characters, I like the worldbuilding. I like how even if it's quite futuristic it's still not very different from the world we live in right now. They have tech implants but they still have beggars at the traffic stop! Now that's some realism.

Many other reviewers have said that Kaaro, the main dude, is sexist, and I agree but it was mentioned in the book that he is sexist and that his boss realises it as well. It was quite annoying though reading his thoughts about women's thighs and other stuff that made him horny.

All that being said, I enjoy the worldbuilding and the story and everything that passed here. I think I'm going to read the second book because I'm quite intrigued in what could happen afterwards.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Cursing

emtur007's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Confinement, Cursing, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and Vomit