Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Historia naturalna smoków by Marie Brennan

14 reviews

aseel_reads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.75

This was excellent, I loved everything about it, I just looked very historical fantasy, especially with dragons 

I can't believe her husband died!! That was so heartbreaking, he was so good for her

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Miscarriage and Pregnancy

theirgracegrace's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

If someone asked me if it were possible to simultaneously copy the Victorian memoir style and acknowledge the political and social culture that created it, I would ask if they liked dragons and hand them A Natural History of Dragons. Lady Isabella Amherst is a fascinating character as she tells the story decades later of her first expedition into the treacherous mountains of Vystrana in search of information about the biology of dragons. The split between the Isabella who is narrating the book and the Isabella we see in the narrative itself is astoundingly well-depicted, showing what decades of research and growth have given her over her younger counterpart. The care given to all aspects of the worldbuilding (religion, dragon and other creatures' biology, economics, politics, even language) creates an incredibly believable and lifelike setting. I cannot recommend this book enough!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Infidelity, Antisemitism, Trafficking, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Cursing, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Vomit, Abortion, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and War

The Vystrani religious practices very closely mimic orthodox Judaism, so I've categorized Isabella's comment about her younger self writing the Vystrani religious practices in a exoticizing/fetishizing light as similar to antisemitism (although this is in no way obvious in the text itself).

Technically the villain's burn is from acid and not fire, but the injuries are described similarly.

mandareads222's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Misogyny, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Miscarriage, and Alcohol

Minor: Religious bigotry

snerp_reads's review against another edition

Stopped reading after some weird choices for the portrayal of Vystrana that left a bad taste in my mouth. None of the other reviews on here mentioned this, but the entire crafting of their fictional religion was pretty obviously antisemitic. It took me a few pages to catch onto it, but it's very obvious that the Vystrana religion was based on Judaism. The religion of Vystrana in the book was portrayed as backwards, savage, and more superstitious and sexist than the main character's religion. 
I made the connection that she had based their religion off of Judaism when I came across two main details in the book; the specific detail that the villagers use graggers to symbolize their disapproval of her arrival, and a ritual the villagers have of fully submerging themselves in "living waters" (it was straight up just a mikvah).

The villagers were then written forcing the main character to take part in the submersion in front of everyone watching, and she even briefly thought they were going to rob or kill her at this point.

 
I wish authors would quit dragging in their own antisemitism into otherwise perfectly fine books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Blood, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Antisemitism, and Religious bigotry

bitter_critter's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism

Moderate: Animal death, Death, and Grief

Minor: Religious bigotry

jonwood's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

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

2.5

I liked this audiobook less and less as I continued to listen. Once the narrator gets her chance to go on an exploration, the book lost most of my interest as it seems to become a series of episodes and typecasting of primitive people's religions. When the

husband of the lead dies and I find it anticlimactic and leaves me uncaring something's not working

. Also, I found the narrator's voice too much like a pretentious, condescending professor for me to enjoy listening to her read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism

Moderate: Death, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, and Sexual harassment

latenightnormie's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Miscarriage, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Minor: Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Blood

In general, I enjoyed the pacing of the book. It read like a autobiography but with Lady Trent's reflective musings throughout the telling of the story. The world building is solid though not terribly in-depth when not in use for the plot. All in all, I'll be reading the next book in the because series.

lunep's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, and Classism

Minor: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Rape, Violence, Vomit, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Colonisation

kalira's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Racism and Religious bigotry

meganpbell's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

I should have been obsessed with this book—I am totally the target audience! However, the main character’s xenophobic stance toward the village she’s intruding upon as a researcher does not change enough to give me confidence in joining her on an expedition to the version of colonial Africa in the sequel. I wanted more dragons, more science, and a more intersectional feminism. I would highly recommend Rachel Hartman’s Seraphina series instead!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Death

Moderate: Miscarriage, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, and Classism