Reviews tagging 'Transphobia'

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

23 reviews

jessthanthree's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual content

Moderate: Sexual assault, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pregnancy

Minor: Transphobia

lolajh's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

Creepy and interesting and heartbreaking and wonderful. The main character Vern is a Black, albino intersex lesbian who has twins at a young age and survives and raises them in the forest. She’s escaped from a cult her family were sucked into whilst being stalked and experiencing hallucinations and numerous body changes. She eventually leaves with her kids to find her childhood friend who had also escaped from the cult before she had. While searching for her friend Vern meets Gojo, a black trans fem non binary lesbian (I never see non binary trans fem rep so loved to see this!) who she does romance on the side whilst dealing with her body changes and the sickness it brings with it. The worldbuilding and character building in this is beautiful, and criticises real-world issues through fantasy and science fiction themes. I love this book and definitely recommend it :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, and War

Moderate: Misogyny

uranaishi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Infertility, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, and Mass/school shootings

breadwitchery's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Child abuse, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Cursing, Fatphobia, Infertility, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Suicide, Transphobia, and Police brutality

skudiklier's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.75

I don't really like horror, so I was really hesitant going into this book, and only read it for a book club. But I'm glad I did; though it was definitely dark and at times upsetting, it was also really good. I was fascinated by what was happening, and some of the twists really got me. This is the second book I've read by this author and I definitely think I'll look into their other work. 

Also, vague spoilers for the ending, but

I was pleasantly surprised by how happy the ending was.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Hate crime, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Cannibalism, and Colonisation

Minor: Racial slurs and Suicide

bookishplantmom's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

5.0

I loved this book. It was beautiful. Vern is the focus of this story. Pregnant, she escapes a gated community to take refuge in a forest. However once there her body begins to behave in ways she does not understand. The story does some very interesting things melding science fiction and horror. The author manages to seamlessly fold in sharp political and social commentary without belabouring their point. Themes such as gender, sexuality, racism, anti-Blackness, and settler colonialism all find their place in the story without ever taking the focus away from a captivating plot. The pacing of the book was comfortable to me, never feeling too slow or rushed. I found most of the characters well developed and crafted well enough for me not to question their existence within the story. This is definitely a book I can see myself returning to. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Homophobia and Transphobia

Minor: Domestic abuse and Medical trauma

runwithkander's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

The dust jacket does not give away the story. It continues to unfold and become so diverse in characters. Some POV changes, for no reason this why it’s not a 5. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Transphobia, Trafficking, Mass/school shootings, and Suicide attempt

solenekeleroux's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious reflective tense

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcoholism, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault

kiandrareadsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Rape, Police brutality, Alcohol, and Colonisation

laurareads87's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

4.25

Sorrowland is a hard book to categorize in terms of genre -- horror and science fiction and more -- and covers many important, difficult, & complex themes.  As always, Solomon's writing is incredible -- I found myself highlighting passages not just because they spoke to me, but for their sheer beauty.  The book is told from a single POV -- that of Vern -- but many supporting characters are multi-faceted + well developed (with much diversity of representation).  The pacing felt slightly inconsistent in a few places but overall, the plot captivated me and contained a number of twists that I did not anticipate; that said, I do think this is equally as much a character-driven book as a plot-driven one.  I have read every book Solomon has written thusfar and this will certainly not be the last -- highly recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Homophobia, Transphobia, Car accident, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, and Racial slurs