Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

The Invasion of the Tearling by Erika Johansen

24 reviews

adancewithsquirrels's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

So um... Did I miss something or could a lot of things be handled way easier if those sapphires really are THAT powerful? 

If Kelsey can just casually destroy a bridge why did she not try to destroy the enemy's weapons? I get that maybe the Red Queen kept her from doing that but the Queen hadn't been with her army most of the time so why not before?
Also... was the Fetch just suddenly walking around without his mask in the end and Mace didn't seem surprised at all? Or was that some other mysterious handsome dude who could get in anywhere he wants undetected?

I'm not sure I like where this all seems to be going but maybe it'll surprise me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Pedophilia

grey_poppy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

An interesting follow up to the first book, taking a bit of a darker turn in character development. I enjoyed seeing how decisions and perspectives could lead to a slightly more villainous arc. Excited to see how Kelsey's character development will further.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Pedophilia

h_scharff's review against another edition

dark inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Blood, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

sparksofkell's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Trafficking, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Pedophilia, Trafficking, Abortion, and Pregnancy

kelsi_r's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm and Sexual violence

jennijennijenni's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

jamalee's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Trafficking

applecor's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual violence

Moderate: Child abuse

katrinarose's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

Another three star rating for the second book. Again, I did enjoy this book but its’ problems were too big for me to go up another star. First the good: I like Lily’s point of view and always found myself looking forward to her perspective. I enjoyed learning about the world before the crossing and trying to predict how the crossing would happen. The writing style was straightforward yet engaging and kept me picking the book back up even in slow parts. However, the magic made no sense. The sapphires seem to play a big part of the magic system since that’s how Kelsea has power yet it’s never explained in a way that justifies their power. It almost seems like Kelsey all of a sudden is unstoppable which makes her decisions even more questionable. The villain(s) were also very weak and unbelievable which kind of made the whole Kelsea storyline weaker. I have hope that the last book will really pull everything together but I can’t say at this point that I’d recommend this series to anyone, even though I have enjoyed it for the most part.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Racism, Slavery, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Classism

mazomazli's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

2.5

I’m really not sure how I made it to the end and still want to read the next book. I found a lot of the worldbuilding to be the main reason I kept going because I want to know how things came to be. However this book is very much packed full with triggering content, often done carelessly and thrown in for what feels like shock factor. The main character is not likable at all, though I’ve never liked her to begin with. Here are the following that the author did that doesn’t sit right with me: 
- constant obsession with beauty equaling goodness and fat phobia (only when the main character loses weight and magically takes on someone else’s appearance is she pretty) and the other evil queen would never be beautiful. How tragic to be ugly I suppose. 
- one of the most graphic homophobia scenes I’ve ever read. A gay church member is castrated and his wound is left to get infected. There was no reason to put this in. There’s no commentary it’s just to show how evil the new church leader is
- graphic rape and constant sexual assault. Graphic domestic violence in full detail. Repeatedly. 
- graphic self harm that is also deeply concerning because it seems the main character is always reopening her wounds by the slightest movements. There was no need to describe her start into it. 
- bizarre portrayal of a woman with albinism being magical and wicked and very sexual…?! That was deeply uncomfortable and I think ableist
- stereotypical orientalism with describing a neighboring king of having a harem with 20+ wives and how the main character was offered to be the highest rank
- improper “seizure” care where they held down the MC and put things in her mouth - huge no’s 
- slavery is used as a casual tool 
And so much more. 

Jonathan deserved better than to meet an end of self sacrifice. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Racism, Slavery, Vomit, Abortion, Dysphoria, and War