Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - Narcissus in Chains

Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Narcissus in Chains by Laurell K. Hamilton

3 reviews

honeyh98's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

0.5

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Ableism, Biphobia, and Misogyny

Minor: Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Suicide, and Sexual harassment

My favorite part of Anita Blake books is finishing them and finally having the car crash of a story be over. I can't really even stand to write everything wrong with this series. Why am I 10 books in? Because I kind of can't look away. If there is an -ism or a -phobia, Laurell K Hamilton is gonna write it in for the shock factor and as an excuse not to further develop her FL. Anita Blake weilds her pity like she does her guns-often, deftly , and with not a single thought in her head. She doesn't protect people because she really cares about them. She protects them because they are weak and worthy of pity. In her own eyes she is a champion for those used and abused but really she is simply another person there to do the same. Threaten them, hurt them, and force herself on them all in the name of the lesser evil. Anita Blake, Laurell K Hamilton? YOU ARE THE EVIL!!! There is a fair amount of dubious consent and plenty of moments when Anita says no or that she doesn't want to do something sexually and all of those are ignored because of

the ardeur. She has to metaphysical hump her way up in power.

For a series that quickly gets more erotic in nature, Anita has no real autonomy in her sexuality and it only gets worse as the story continues. Aside from this; the writing itself is lazy. The same comparisons are used over and over again and they never make sense? And then there descriptions of lackluster outfits and mundane actions that are described in great detail. It all feels like a college essay struggling to reach word count. You don't need to describe your red polo and black jeans more than once in a book if it's the same outfit every time. And we don't need to know every si gle step of getting out of your car and locking it. At least not enough to take more than a page describing it. If these moments and redundant descriptions were taken out of the story, we would have Anita Blake book 9.5, not book 10. There was not enough relevant or plot furthering content in this. I didn't feel closer to the characters cause they didn't grow in any way. In fact, you could say many devolved. Anita is constantly biphobic and homophobic towards her partners sexual and romantic histories and abelist In her descriptions of mental struggles. No one struggles like her or deserves slack like her. Also she's just not very bright. For someone with so many followers in her life, she sure is bad at reading context. All of this is incredibly difficult to read or listen to. Save yourself and skip out on this series while you're a third of the way through. You've spent enough time reading this garbage and so have I. But you will definitely see me again reading these to be horrified and irritated repeatedly. Feel free to do the same!

kloughlin's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

noellelovesbooks's review against another edition

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4.0

Content Warnings: Sexual scenes, blood/gore, body horror, sexism, ableism, homophobia, biphobia, torture, violence, suicidal ideations, sexual harassment, and mention of rape [that happens off page].

Back when I was 14 and cruising the library I stumbled on this mass market...had no idea what it was or that it was the 10th book in a series 😅 but I checked it out and DEVOURED it. After realizing it was part of a series I quickly read through the first 9 books and then attempted to keep up with all the releases. Knowing I haven't read past book 22.5 I've slowly been on a reread to see if the books give me the same badass and awesome feels that they did back then.

Rereading this series has been an eyeopener to just how many problematic aspects/personality traits I completely ignored or didn't pick up on as a teen. That being said I enjoyed rereading this book so much. I'm still irked by Anita's internalized sexism/homophobia/biphobia/ableism/fatphobia/sex shaming but I can slowly see how her perspective is starting to shift in at least a few of those areas. I look forward to continuing my reread and seeing her evolve even more into a more open-minded and accepting individual.

Content Warnings

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