Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan

164 reviews

njthk's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Self harm

tjmcharg's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Self harm

pvp_niki's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Slavery

Minor: Infertility and Vomit

raelam's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Self harm, Violence, and War

Moderate: Sexual violence

adoto's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.75

My only complaint is I wanted an epilogue of Zhu and Ma being happily married at the end. But other than that, Shelley Parker-Chan is so fucking powerful to get me attached to a literal fucking incel 

There were a lot of BDSM undertones that I normally wouldn't care for but I felt the author had a riot of a good time writing them so I liked them too. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Self harm, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Ableism, Homophobia, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

Minor: Miscarriage and Pregnancy

starsmakenoise's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Kidnapping and Pregnancy

tbd24's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense 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

5.0

gay wrongs. what’s not to love

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and War

Minor: Emotional abuse, Rape, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail

nightmarebees's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

twists and turns! intrigue! gender! betrayal! gay sex! i loved the addition of more perspectives, particularly madame zhang’s. i don’t usually love military-heavy fantasy and this kept me hooked. 

the only things keeping this from a full 5 for me are:
1) ma is my favorite and she got less page time here
2) some big character deaths felt anticlimactic

this duology whips ass. gonna be thinking about it for a while 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Homophobia

madscientistcat's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Violence, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

anglerfishinariver's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-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

This is the first book that has ever really managed to change my perspective on something. I always love revenge plots and power trips where people don't regret anything, and get annoyed when they realize they didn't gain anything, but did book did it beautifully. He Who Drowned The World is a book about power, fate, love, regret, revenge, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, corruption, pain, and so much more. 
I loved the scheming and strategizing from different perspectives, and how much effort was put into writing out the battles and their significance, even though I thought the battle against Chen was goofy. 
Regardless, the book's real strengths were the characters and the relationships between them. I have never ever read a book that explored characters' personality in so much detail and with so much care. It was a truly incredible experience, and I felt and suffered for every character, no matter how evil they were. And they were all completely different people, they felt raw and real. None of them were perfect, but I loved them with all my heart. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Rape, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts