Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire

16 reviews

queensalamand's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

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

1.0

If anything watch the play/movie first, then read the book if you want. I wish I had. Never had the chance to watch the play.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Death and Grief

bellableu's review against another edition

dark funny sad tense slow-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

Finished this book in three days! Very slow beginning but once you get past the first 100 pages it’s hard to stop turning the pages.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual assault, and Torture

Minor: Incest, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts

thefooddater's review against another edition

The book was difficult to follow plotwise. The tone is also really dark. I shouldn't have bought this expected it would be a similar feel to the musical.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

There is a strange scene in which

one of the classmates is in this sex show

alexandra_salisbury's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

2.5

I want to like it more than I did. This was my second attempt after a DNF. While I'm usually one for closed-door books, I could look past the explicit scenes if it wasn't for the blatant *completely unnecessary* sexualization of children which just made the book really sordid. 

There were very interesting things that happened that would bring you right to the precipice of something happening and then *surprise* - time jump, and it didn't happen. Or maybe it did and you missed it. It was disappointing. Someone needs to write a fan fiction of this fan fiction and do it better- although maybe that's what the musical did 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Slavery, Torture, Excrement, Dementia, Trafficking, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

Minor: Sexism

recorderkfk's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

As someone who loves the musical and the OG Wizard of Oz, I found it rather cold and cruel - it's philosophically  interesting, but plot wise, plodding. Fun to read though as a musical fan. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Sexual content, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, and Sexual assault

Minor: Ableism, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Terminal illness, and War

jadonmorgs's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.0

Let me start this review by saying that I love and adore the Broadway musical. This book is nothing like the Broadway musical but I'm not opposed to it being more grim and less light hearted. I actually prefer the much more darker themes that's in this book, but I feel like the book did not really deliver on the character of Elphaba she just did not feel fleshed out enough. I couldn't really immerse myself in the story and it's characters even though I really wanted to.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, and War

monicats's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

3.75

I entered it already expecting it to be a departure from the musical (which is fine! I never have a problem separating an original work from the new media iteration, especially if the latter is already not intentionally a “faithful” adaptation). I do wonder about this kind of wall that’s built between us as readers and Elphaba in the first half of the book, which made her POV in the second half a little shaky to me. Can we really understand her intentions from other characters who don’t have a full understanding of her? Maybe that’s the intention! It just also makes me question the love between her and Fiyero - how can she bring herself to love him? How does she allow herself that kind of intimacy when it’s already difficult for even a family member to touch her? How is he shaped into the image of the beloved? Much to think about.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault and Xenophobia

heart_strong500's review against another edition

I was 40% though and so much time was being spent on things I didn't care about. I looked at other reviews which I rarely do before or while I'm reading and they all said it's very different from the musical. So even if my favorite parts of the musical would have happened I didn't know with how much detail they were or weren't going to be covered. And then the three-way sexual assult(everyone's under magic or something so I see it as sexual assult) with the tiger (which animals are just another race and I knew that before reading) happened and I was done. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Classism

rosalind's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Emotional abuse, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Police brutality, and Murder

Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Child death, and Infidelity

greenrequiem's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual content, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Sexual assault