Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Rosalera by Tade Thompson

29 reviews

georgiesutton's review against another edition

2.0

I was disappointed because I thought the premise of the book was really cool and it didn't live up to that expectation. I found the book confusing, jumping between times and even within chapters the story seemed to flit about. A lot of the book I wasn't entirely sure what was going on which is fine sometimes when things are revealed but this was just plain confusing. Reveals or revelations were lost on me so I was still confused after things seemed like they were meant to be explained. 
Whilst 'womens lit' is not normally a term I think is helpful this is a 'boy book' with explosions, sex, lack of emotion (other than horniness). None of our characters are likable because they are either unpleasant or too secretive. 
I nearly DNFed but wanted to see if it got better. I should have DNFed after the first 100 pages. 
It was interesting to read a sci fi book in Nigeria, but for the near future I thought there could have been more imagination than just aliens. It seemed there had been no progress in 30-40 years which I think is just a bit boring. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

bluberrybooks's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Fatphobia, Miscarriage, Torture, and Medical content

deb_is_reading's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-paced

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

3.5

 Positives: There were so much elements in this story that was just plain cool. The aliens, Kaaro's and other's abilities, the female characters are interesting and I wanted to see more of them.

Negative: So there were a lot of time jumps that weren't chronological. We'd jump from the 2060s to the 2040s to the 2060s again then to the 2050s and references to other time periods within those time jumps. It felt like I should have had a scrap piece of paper to keep track of things. It was a little bit of work to follow. The writing is fine and digestible though.

Sexual moments were also very jarring at times. Romantic moments between Kaaro and Aminat were fine but there were also moments of random erections and sudden moments of sex/sexual assaults. I try to give the author the benefit of the doubt but I felt that a lot of random bouts of sexuality were straight up not needed. It's so strange because our main character is a stated misogynist and we do see him grow a bit, but the random sexual bits kinda ruin it.

Further thoughts: I might be more interested by the next installment because I think we follow more perspectives. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Moderate: Death, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia, Sexism, and Torture

zias's review against another edition

adventurous tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

The time skips in this story were a little confusing as were the scientific concepts at times, but I thoroughly enjoyed this take on an alien invasion of the human race in a not-so-distant future. I found Kaaro to be funny and likable as a main character with flaws and motivations. I can’t wait to read the following books in this series. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Torture, Violence, and Vomit

cassie7e's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

Fascinating worldbuilding/sci fi take. Love a setting that's not in the US or Europe. Works as a stand alone (thank goodness) though I will eventually continue the series.

The writing has a tone that feels very masculine and unrelatable to me (similar to how I felt about American Gods, though less offputting in this book), but books do not have to be relatable to be enjoyable! The weirdness kept me interested. Also I enjoy a nonlinear narrative. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror and Torture

Minor: Fatphobia, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

mine_gerber's review against another edition

dark funny tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Infidelity, Torture, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia and Stalking

maricasement's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I have conflicted feelings about this book. I went into it knowing only what was written on the blurb and was really excited for the story. The story is told in first person and as the main character (Kaaro) was introduced I got even more excited because I thought they were an interesting, if a bit misogynistic, female character. Alas, Kaaro turned out to be an arrogant and irritating misogynistic male character. My dislike for him was increased by being immersed in his inner thoughts and his obliviousness to his faults. However, I do understand why the author made the choice to use the first person perspective as it becomes more relevant and important in setting the scene as the book progresses.
Because of my dislike for Kaaro, the first half of the book dragged. There was a lot being set up at the start as well, and this meant that the book took a while to grip me. Once the book revealed an awareness of Kaaro's faults and the mystery started to take shape, I started enjoying the book a bit more. Don't get me wrong, Kaaro is still a character I dislike, but the other (female) characters, the plot and the world building now have me hooked.
I will probably read the next in the series, as it seems to be told from a different character's perspective and I would love to learn more about the world Tade Thompson has crafted.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Vomit, and War

librarianmage's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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: Body horror, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Torture and Blood

Minor: Homophobia

gattolinos_nerdy_nook's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-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

4.0

This book has me puzzled in a way that I don't know how to describe it. Even after finishing it can't tell you what the plot is about, but I can say that is had me hooked and left me still thinking about it.

The characters and the plot worked so well together that it felt like you were observing someone's life. There were moments of lull and intensity but it all felt realistic. It felt like someone was telling me their life story and not reading a book for entertainment.

With this being the first book in the trilogy I'm curious to see what the other two books will be about.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Torture, Blood, and War

Minor: Sexual content

mar's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-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? No

3.5

really cool take on alien invasion/first contact! BIG fan the whole "telepathy" thing - telepathy is such a bizarrely common landmark of classic science fiction, and i loved seeing this book build on that legacy while actually adding a "science" aspect to it. kaaro's constant objectification of women was fucking exhausting tho

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, and Medical content

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Torture, Excrement, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Rape, Islamophobia, and Sexual harassment