Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

37 reviews

strawberrytheauthor's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

I have never read a book like this. I have been wanting to get into more eerie books and this totally scratched that itch for me. If you are a fan of spooky but not horror this is definitely for you. There is a lot of gore and body horror stuff that left me thoroughly unsettled. It reminded me of “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka. The whole story was dark and brooding with little flecks of hope and the writing made the characters and setting come to life. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Infertility, Misogyny, Racism, Suicide, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, and Cannibalism

mixtercharlie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

This is a wonderful book that I would encourage everyone to read in small parts. It deserves to be enjoyed slowly. There is violence but the violence is paramount to the story, even when it’s visceral and upsetting. A book I could read again and again and always take away something new. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

lpdx's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer and Medical content

roaming_enn's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.0

I really enjoyed this book and the story! This young woman (a teenager) escapes the cult in which she grew up and then gives birth to twins. They live in the woods for a couple of years before she decides to take them into the city. All the while her body is being taken over by a fungus. 

Whatever Eaton Fields and Allie had done to Verne that was not the fungus’s fault. Complex enough to hold the lives of however many thousands in its Celsius it was a living being as much as Vern was. 

Vern thought of Howling and Feral, how they’d lived in her body. During that time, she had nourished then, but after their birth with all their love, they’d been the ones to nourish her. 

So, too, would the fungus.

She later returns to the compound where she discovers the truth about the purpose of it and where she must confront her past demons. The book is about Black American culture and generational trauma. I read this for the Trans Rights Readathon, as the author is nonbinary. I’ve read another book by Solomon, but there’s so much more to read from them! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Rape

salemander's review against another edition

5.0

absolutely brilliant. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Gaslighting

cookiecat73's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

This was a very raw, very honest book that absolutley did not shy away from tough topics. I loved the characters. The first 3/4 were amazing, but unfortunately the last quarter of the book went in a direction that was much less of my thing and I enjoyed it a lot less. Overall though, very good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, and Colonisation

Minor: Racial slurs, Slavery, and Excrement

sup3r_xn0va_maya's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

3.5

I'm not really sure what to rate this or how to even start this review so I'm just going to ramble a bit I guess. 

This story is about the medical horrors that Black folks have gone through at the hands of the United States government.

The pace was very slow compared to what I normally read so even though I was entertained I still felt the slowness of the book in the middle of it. I listened to the audiobook and I read along with a physical copy of the book so I could stay immersed there were times where we followed the main character but she wasn't really doing much of anything and the slowness of it all and the feeling that I was reading on and on and nothing was happening was driving me mad. 

I think the horror elements of this book were mainly based on body horror and psychological horror, and generational trauma and those worked well within the book. This was a beautifully told story, I love the way the author writes. This story was also really unique so I want to give the author props for that. 

Overall I enjoyed this read, though because of the slowness, I don't see myself reading this again.

I give this a 3.5 out of 5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Car accident, and Death of parent

penofpossibilities's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense

• 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

4.75

GOD i did NOT heed the trigger warnings and I honestly don't even have an excuse like I knew this was a horror novel and still picked it up. don't make my mistake and please be safe. Anyway this BOOK!!!! /pos
absolute fucking masterpiece

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Rape, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Cancer, Infertility, Racial slurs, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Transphobia

graphic: cult

yuyine's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

4.75

Rivers Solomon nous offre à nouveau un roman surprenant, intense et marquant qui questionne de nombreuses thématiques avec force dans une intrigue mêlant SF, thriller, drame et weird fiction. Maternité, transformation psychologique et physique, amour queer, émancipation, rapport à la terre et au passé, oppressions et éducation sont autant de veines qui parcourent un récit puissant et organique qui ne peut pas laisser indifférent.  

Critique complète sur yuyine.be!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Drug use, and Rape

careinthelibrary's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

I've read The Deep and An Unkindness of Ghosts and this is my new favourite from Rivers Solomon. Fae just keep getting better and better. Sorrowland hits hard. I love Vern and her kids, her relationship with Gogo, it all just feels right. Precisely done.
This book has some of the most meaningful and nuanced queer representation I've ever read. Never once do these characters feel forced or unnatural, they are such complex people who jump off the page and start running for the woods.
Can't wait for their next book, I'm quickly becoming a major fan. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Gun violence, and Terminal illness

Minor: Suicide

Cult indoctrination