Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Sandman, Vol. 1: Preludes & Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman

21 reviews

scrambie's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

The way I would describe this text is ‘dark whimsical’. I genuinely had no clue where the plot was going,
 And couldn’t anticipate all the twists and turns. 

It feels that the author had a plethora ideas that he expertly braided together under the theme of ‘dreams’ and ‘Morpheus’. 

Through dreams and revelation, this text touches on what it is to be present, human, and the challenges we face outside the dreaming. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

tbd24's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense 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

2.0

tbh I don’t know what I expected sandman to be but it wasn’t really this. I’ve read a decent amount of Gaiman books and I know this is super popular so I was thinking it would be a real crowning jewel but honestly I found most of it very boring. Maybe it’s just not my style, I’ve never been one much for grim dark. Also I know it was written in the 80’s but woof. Yikes, even. I hate to bring it up but with all the allegations against Gaiman, a lot of the treatment of women paints an unfortunate picture. It’s kind of crazy to me that I’ve never heard any criticism about these aspects of his writing. 

Idk the main part I liked was the epilogue so I might still end up reading the next one just to see if it’s more in that direction but I’m not hopeful

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, and Pandemic/Epidemic

zeloco's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Gore, and Homophobia

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

birthisacurse's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Suicide, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Homophobia, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

bea_evans's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I am probably not the target audience here. As originally a comic series, it’s episodic, with a story developing in a longer arc. This is the first 8 comics in the series in one book. I don’t really like the art, but it’s evocative, dark and gross. The level of detail is impressive, however, and I probably missed a few things.

The story, of the accidental imprisonment of Dream, his eventual escape, and his quest to get back his tools, makes me wonder what the rest of the series is about. “The sound of her wings” is perfect, to me, because I thought, “okay what now,” and Morpheus was at the same place.

The other episodes are occasionally very violent and sometimes sexual. Definitely not for younger viewers, as they say. I’m sure the genre affected the storytelling. The inclusion of other DC characters was odd, to me. And, since I’m not a comic reader, I wasn’t always sure who was who. The myth and classical allusions are more my speed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Confinement, Drug abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, and Blood

nos_seren's review against another edition

dark tense 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Blood, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Minor: Lesbophobia

Use of slurs

unibadger's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

madamenovelist's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring sad slow-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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War

albernikolauras's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

Reading this while watching the first couple episodes of The Sandman was such an experience. The volume starts off slow and then ramps up as Sandman works to get his helm, gem, and dust back after a long period of captivity.

The artwork is sketchy and haunting, and matches the vibes of the book. The series doesn't shy away from the evils of humanity and can be a bit disturbing to read, but it was worth the read. Definitely plan on continuing. I was surprised by all of the DC references made, but it makes sense within the publishing of it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Violence

puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition

dark 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Child death, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Death of parent