Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan

67 reviews

chasinggrace's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense 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? No

4.0

A much more emotionally taxing story than its counterpart, He Who Drowned the World eclipsed its predecessor in all ways. I was surprised to find myself crying, when at other parts of the story I had to force myself to continue reading. 

I really appreciated the continued depth with which the author explored gender and identity in this series, as well as mental health. 

This story forces you to ask yourself, “is it too late to change the fate that I chose?” And “who am I once I turn away from everything I’ve always believed?”

While not a 5⭐️ duology for me personally, I think it is worth the time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Dysphoria, War, and Classism

kathi_90's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual content, Slavery, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Kidnapping, Grief, and Pregnancy

evann140's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

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

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

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

saltyseakitten's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Abandonment, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail

zaferino's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape

hanz's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Slavery, and Pregnancy

leonoor's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

4.75

I loved the first book of this series, so I expected to love the sequel as well. And I did, but it wasn't what I expected. Like the first book, he who drowned the world is a historical war novel, but the plot is much more violent. There are graphic descriptions of murder, rape, cruelty, and (self-)mutilation. It's a story full of betrayal, pain, hate and anger. We don't see as much of the loveable characters in this book. We are confronted with self-destructive hate, and most characters in this book do unspeakable things to achieve their goals. Yet Shelley Parker-Chan has written about it in such a beautiful, elegant and vulnerable way, that I found myself feeling empathy for these characters. 

I debated giving this book 5 stars, since I found it very well-written and intruiging, but I decided on a 4.75 only because the pace of the beginning and middle part of the book is a bit slow. This, combined with the fact that some chapters are very dark and heavy to read, made me put the book away quite often. However, I always enjoyed returning to this beautifully intricate world the author has described. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and War

Moderate: Body shaming and Transphobia