Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

The House with the Golden Door by Elodie Harper

40 reviews

cathy_alice's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery

Moderate: Rape and Violence

lightningsews's review against another edition

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Slavery

secre's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

The House With the Golden Door starts off where the last book left off; Amara is free of the brothel and the violently cruel pimp who owns it. She's technically a freedwoman, but she finds that her freedom has lines she cannot cross and her life is just as precarious in different ways. Haunted by the loss of one of her closest friends, Amara's well-being depends on how happy she can make her patron. 

This is an excellent follow up to what was an excellent series starter. Despite focussing on mainly new characters, all of them - good, bad and grey in between - are fully realised and interesting characters. Some characters from the previous novel make come backs in unexpected ways, adding to the cast of vibrant characterisations. I particularly liked how the antagonists were fully realised, with well thought out backgrounds and motivations rather than just being there for the sake of a plot. In turn, the plot shifts and turns in unexpected ways, yet feels cohesive and true to itself. And the setting and place is vividly imagined.

It is in many ways a very different novel to it's prequel. The setting is completely different from the slum like whorehouse Amara was trapped in, yet Harper excels at drawing parallels about how the trappings may have changed but the insecurity and lack of freedom is the same. It's well written and powerful, bringing the characters and the message to life along with the time period and place. It also shows how the demons of our past don't let go easily, as Amara struggles with her tense relationship with Felix and her previous 'colleagues'. 

All in all, this is an excellent continuation to the series and I'm excited to see what happens next.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence and Slavery

abi_dutton's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Grief, and Toxic friendship

emiliedr_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Body shaming, Eating disorder, and Panic attacks/disorders

shay43geek's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Classism

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

caelfind's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Slavery

Moderate: Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Child abuse, Death, and Grief

gondorgirl's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

olliev15's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring medium-paced

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

3.0

i adore the writing style, and the first half of the book was as strong as book one. however, amara makes some really dumb decisions that just made her unlikeable in my opinion. brittanica was the best character and i wholeheartedly agree with her on basically everything. so, well written book, but the main characters decisions made it a slog to finish.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, and Classism

annatollia's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Like the first in the series, Elodie Harper weaves a compelling narrative that is rich in history and emotion. This book was harder for me to read than The Wolf Den because it deals so heavily with effects of trauma.   

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Violence

Themes of dealing with trauma and trauma recovery