Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

The Many Daughters of Afong Moy by Jamie Ford

5 reviews

apworden's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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? It's complicated

3.75

Spoiler

not sure I am comfortable with how Dorothy overdosing solving everyone’s problems could be interpreted by someone in a similarly stressful situation

otherwise, a beautiful book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racism, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, War, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Ableism, Domestic abuse, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Confinement, Deportation, Pregnancy, Grief, Body horror, Blood, Death, Bullying, Child death, Death of parent, Hate crime, Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, and Colonisation

lizsurber's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Classism, Death, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Vomit

Moderate: War and Xenophobia

Minor: Self harm and Forced institutionalization

indreni's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Outing, Lesbophobia, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Mental illness, and Grief

unboxedjack's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Child death, Death, Medical trauma, Rape, Trafficking, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Grief, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, and Terminal illness

low_keybookish's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Wowowow. I was so intrigued by this storyline that I started it when I got it in the mail!

Pub Date: 8/2/22

Do you believe trauma is inherited and intergenerational? Like THE BODY KEEPS SCORE, the premise of this book is that our bodies store experiences but perhaps across a longer time than we think (how our experiences can change our DNA, epigenetics). He also acknowledges Navajo and Indigenous practices that use this concept way before modern day medicine has looked into this idea. This story traces the generational line from the first Chinese woman in the U.S. (based on a real person, Afong Moy) to 6 generations later, with a focus on Dorothy in 2045. [Real-life Afong was used as an "exhibit" to show of exoticized Chinese culture and her bound feet.] I LOVE an intergenerational story, highlighting what are familial vs contextual characteristics.

CW a lot of violence against the characters, rape & sexual assault ; xenophobia, homophobia, racism, sexism. There's a whole theme of karma. What is passed down vs what is taken up in a new generation? What is motherhood when the odds are stacked against you? 

The author starts out with "This book is for anyone with a complicated origin story. I feel you." I was instantly drawn in. While historical fiction, the author uses a lot of research on actual people and contexts, such as the plaque in 19th century San Francisco (chilling connections to our current pandemic) and nurses during WWII. Definitely recommend this mysterious read, where you're guessing until the end of how these characters come together and where healing begins. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Death

Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Violence, and War