Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Zarina by Ellen Alpsten

25 reviews

lupinsoctober's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Grief, Pregnancy, and War

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Misogyny, and Physical abuse

oliviaalbion's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

I read this book in just over a week and was entranced by it. I possibly would have finished it sooner, but occasionally needed mental breaks from the very detailed gruesome and violent scenes. I'm finding it difficult to rate as, although fast-paced, that wasn't always a good thing. The structure of the book seemed to jump around a bit, and although somewhat chronological, it didn't always make sense or seem relevant to the current chapter. It seemed overly long, and there were times I felt like I had read a lot because of how much had happened, but really, I hadn't read many pages. The cross between fiction and historical reality has been cleverly manipulated to show the life of the Tsarina. The highs and lows of her life as a female in Russia during the early 1700s have been well portrayed, and I appreciated that the dark history of this time was not glossed over. I don't doubt the historical accuracy of the research, but I do have an issue with some of the portrayals and doubt the primary sources (political/historical bias?). Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about Russia's history and especially seeing the female pov of the Tsarina. I'm glad I ticked this book off my list but would not read it again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Slavery, Violence, Vomit, Antisemitism, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

This is not a bedtime story! Potentially a book to read when you're mentally ready for a lot of the topics that come with Russian history.

cathy_alice's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Miscarriage, Slavery, and War

palindromereads's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Sexual harassment, and War

bookshelfhannah's review against another edition

adventurous challenging reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Miscarriage, and Violence

Moderate: Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Pregnancy

paging_snidget's review against another edition

tense slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Sexual content

The history itself is fascinating but the way in which it was written rendered the interesting dull and lifeless. I saw no point in the change-up of timelines at the beginning of and of the novel other than to add some tension to the narrative which it failed to do. I will read some more into the history but will not read from this author again.

mira_st's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse and Miscarriage

nicoletacilibiu's review against another edition

Prea multă agresiune sexuală. Nu vreau să citesc despre asta. Mă îngrețoșează.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

helenastinks's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Domestic abuse, and Antisemitism

poetskings's review against another edition

challenging reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence