Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

15 reviews

plumpeony's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Sexual content, Grief, and Stalking

Minor: Ableism, Pedophilia, Rape, and Abortion

wardenred's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.75

"He's no more than a bully."
Katsa snorted. "A bully who chops off people's fingers or breaks their arms."
"Not if you stop doing it for him," Po said. "Much of his power comes from you."

I have vague memories about DNFing this book pretty early on years ago, since the beginning was just so generic and not very well-constructed. Touch, stabby heroine who's not like other girls and has weird eyes! Chapters upon chapters bogged down with flashbacks and exposition! Honestly, the second time around it was just as boring. But I've been seeing a lot of positive mentions of this series lately, and besides, I've been recced one of the book from further in the series for a highly specific request. So I chose to persevere, and once I was past 5 chapters or so, things did get a lot better. It turned out to be a quicker read than I expected, and I was rather engrossed for the most part.

Ultimately, though, my feelings are mixed at best. I really enjoyed the superpowers/graces and how their implications were handled. They're not just cool powers, but something that permeates the characters' entire lives and provokes experiences that shape their personalities. I liked the relationship between Katsa and Po: the gradual development, the building of trust, how they actually talked it out whenever they clashed. I also enjoyed Katsa's arc and her struggle to gain control over her life, though at the same time, she frustrated me a lot with that stereotypical "not like other girls" thing and the way it was handled/delivered. Also, the way she treats horses? Absolutely not cool, 0/10, much frustration. Not saying every character should adore animals, but there's a line between not adoring animals and not even treating them as living beings who can get tired or hurt, and that girl is so far on the other side of it.

The setting had a lot of interesting things going for it, though I wish some of them were explored deeper. I really liked the way the ethical implications of certain political tangles were brought to light, like how the responsibility is shared between cruel rulers and those who work for them and empower them through that. Really, I don't think the book ever completely stopped being tropey and somewhat generic, but the way these familiar tropes are explored and delve into felt really refreshing. So despite the rocky beginning, the occasionally clunky prose, and my grips with Katsa as the MC, for the most part I rather enjoyed this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Violence

Moderate: Misogyny

Minor: Confinement

Mind control/manipulation

kell_xavi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional medium-paced

4.0

Well-told for the most part, with believable relationships, challenges, and emotions; however, some emotional events carry on a bit long, becoming repetitive and overwrought. I wasn’t convinced of how the plot comes together around the climax, finding too many threads dragged out only to collapse in a surprising moment. Still, Cashore’s girl-driven fantasy novel is mostly successful, smart and sincere, tinged with fear and a good dose of comeuppance to powerful men who do wrong.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

gillian_aftanas's review against another edition

adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious relaxing 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Violence, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Incest, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Child death and Abortion

martin27's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful tense medium-paced

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

3.0

The beginning drags on for quite a while, and the middle struck me as just being bland. The ending was very good though. Really everything after the introduction of Princess Bitterblue is good and the rest is not bad but didn’t interest me that much. I expected a much more complex magic system than what the Graces actually are, which is a vague concept that for some people is the ability to read minds or see the future and for others is just being able to swim sort of fast. The world building as a whole is very weak. In fact it’s the weakest point of the novel, I think. The author’s voice is unique and has promise but the world that Graceling is set in just doesn’t have any depth. 

It was fine and isn’t the worst book ever, but I’m not super committed to picking up any of the sequels. I will stress again that Katsa and Bitterblue have a great relationship that was really interesting, and I love that

Katsa, a woman who is committed to remaining childfree and unmarried, is not convinced that she actually did want children all along. Katsa loves kids and was very protective of Bitterblue, but that doesn’t mean she wants to have kids. It was a pleasant surprise to not have her shoved into a motherly role even when she has to take care of a kid for a third of the novel. Bitterblue is like a sister to her.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Blood, Vomit, and Kidnapping

Minor: Misogyny, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

ava_ba's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

4.25

This book was outstanding I simply don’t care what anyone has to say, Katsa and Po were everything and Bitterblue deserves the planet

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Murder, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Vomit, Grief, Alcohol, and War

Animal attack. Near drowning.

lahars_little_library's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Abandonment

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Torture, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

cepbreed's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

3.0

I will be honest I had low expectations and this book met them. It’s standard YA fantasy so how can I complain when I picked this up fully knowing what it was! A redeeming moment though happened when we learn

Po was blinded in his failed assassination plot on King Leck. It was a great twist to go along with his grace that continued to develop throughout the story.

Speaking of graces the power system in its entirety could be more clear. There are hardly any ground rules and powers vary so drastically it’s confusing. Maybe it’s meant to be convoluted? The book is too long yet some core scenes were lacking in detail while minor unimportant ones were fleshed out in pages. I have a neurosis about series though so I will be finishing it to satisfy my self.

Song: 

• Don’t Blame Me - Taylor Swift 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Minor: Sexual content and War

claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Vomit, Grief, Outing, and Sexual harassment