Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Blood & Sugar by Laura Shepherd-Robinson

9 reviews

sandysmith's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious reflective 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

4.25

It's an excellent if harrowing read. Historical fiction at its finest concentrating on the murder of Tad Archer and his friend Captain Henry (Harry) Corsham investigating what happened. The murder whilst gripping was a side story to the slave trade and the goings on of the 18th century. Very evocative, brilliantly written, and you could smell the unpleasant smells of London and particularly the slave ships in Deptford. Bringing into focus the bribery and corruption of the time at all levels of society. Racism, child abuse, classism and homophobia are explored. There are particularly unpleasant characters, with very few nicer characters that made you back Harry throughout his exploration of the murder of his friend. It was interesting, and in particular, the British involvement of the slave trade is laid unpleasantly bare. It packs its punches. Superbly researched and written, an investigation of a murder not for the faint-hearted. Excellent stuff

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

leahhhtaylor's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.5

i really hoped this book would be better after reading square of sevens. i feel it sort of got lost in the middle and then came out with a sort of undercooked ending. but i’ll give her other book a read to determine if this was just an unfortunate flop! and maybe i just should write off all books using the hard r for my own sake

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Torture, and Violence

alexrafinski's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative sad fast-paced

4.25

This is a fast-paced whodunnit with quite a convoluted plot (or plots really) set in the late 18th century.  Slavery features heavily and the author doesn't shy away from giving full details of the horrible lives they led and the things that white people did to them.  In fact the book is full of people doing nasty things (not just white on black).  A bit too over-dramatic for me (e.g. big storm coincides with the denouement near the end).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, and Violence

carysn's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Murder, and Colonisation

Moderate: Violence, Blood, Vomit, and War

khall123's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Trafficking

lostingothicmusic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, and Colonisation

A difficult book to read.

hannahrhian's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• 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

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

abbieinwonderland's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious sad slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Mental illness, Rape, Excrement, Vomit, and Medical trauma

Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Pedophilia, and Blood

meiyee's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense

• 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

3.5

i really enjoyed this book but the ending left me a bit cold - the murderer's motive was a bit lacking and i found the last few chapters confusing. however, the writing and descriptions of deptford and london were brilliant. be aware of a lot of use of racial slurs and racist language.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, and Violence

Moderate: Homophobia, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence