Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Lotus Palace by Jeannie Lin

3 reviews

ehmannky's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? Yes

3.5

The plot felt a little stretched out, and the resolution to The Main Couple's Issue felt like it was resolved relatively quickly and mostly off-screen, but the characters, central mystery, and the setting were all so good that I am inclined to forgive these things. I also think this is one of the few historical romances I've read that takes the idea of courting outside of someone's class really, really seriously and that was really interesting to read. It also has some very interesting and nuanced depictions of sexual consent. Overall, very fun, very good and I'm definitely interested in reading more from both this author and in this series. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Murder

Minor: Child abuse and Sexual assault

sydapel's review

emotional hopeful 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? No

3.75

Jeannie Lin has a knack for creating characters that really fit well together, and it's shown in Yue-ying and Lord Bai's story. I liked a lot of this, apart from the rather easy way this ended (considering how far apart their social classes are), and the mystery is really well interwoven. Yue-ying as a character learning to go after what she wants and not just follow, was also really well done. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Sexual content

Moderate: Death, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, and Murder

massivepizzacrust's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

I was really excited for this because it's a romance novel set *not in period England* and it has a mystery at its core, which I always like. But I found the romance itself kinda forced and not enjoyable. The mystery itself was pretty good though there was a lot of miscommunication between characters who should have trusted each other, which prolonged the conflict more than I thought was necessary. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Sexual content

the main character has a history of being sold into prostitution, that part isn't graphic. What is graphic is the first sex scene with the love interest where she disassociates from the scene and just lets it happen. He doesn't really notice until after the fact. He feels terrible after and is more sensitive to her mood after that experience but it's distressing to read.