Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

And I Darken by Kiersten White

10 reviews

lunaviolet's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional

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That was a lot. The complex sibling dynamics, the parental abandonment, the closeted gay yearning for a straight man, the powerlessness of being a women in a society that limits what you can do… it was a lot. But it was really good. I felt engaged the whole time. I just wish they talked to each other. There was so much sorrow and such little relief because these characters just refused to talk to each other or talk through anything with anyone else. It made sense for their characters why they wouldn’t, but for the love of god, talk.

Mehmed was annoying. By the end of the book I was like

can you please shut up and disappear? The other two would have been so much happier without him there bogging down the story. He was just sooo annoying!

I don’t understand why this is listed as a fantasy? There was no fantastical elements to this story. Like at all. The story didn’t need fantastical elements, it was complete even without them. But then why is this book listed as fantasy? It was purely historical fiction.

Speaking of tags, this book needs to have the lgbtq+ tag on it bc there was a LOT of gay people and gay feelings.

No one does unrequited love quite like a gay person in love with a straight person. And by that I mean, over 80% of this boy’s thoughts were about how he wants so badly to be this asshole’s gay lover but he can’t.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Abandonment

Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual assault, Violence, Murder

marzandme's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, War

Minor: Homophobia, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry

4riareads's review against another edition

2.5

medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, War

Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury

thaliareads's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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For me, the beginning of the book felt a bit meandering and by the time I made it to the end I understood the setup and enjoyed the story overall, but I think if I hadn't been listening to the audiobook I would have stopped reading pretty early on because it didn't grab my attention until about halfway through. However, I'm glad I did finish it. I would read or listen to the next book in the series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Misogyny, Sexism, Abandonment

Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Slavery, Torture, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Murder, War

Minor: Death of parent

I want to start by prefacing that the author does not come off as homophobic, islamaphobic, or otherwise bigoted. These content warnings are present because of the time period and context of when the book takes place. Spoilers to clarify:

In this book the two main characters are basically sold to the primary ruler of the region in exchange for more support fighting his battles. The region where this ruler presides is primarily Islamic and while one of the MCs finds it fascinating and comforting in their time of crisis, the other doesn't want to be forced from the religion they've grown up in and does come across as bigoted. In addition, due to the time period, women are seen as secondary citizens and really lack the respect of the men. This is a consistent recurring theme throughout the entire book where one of the MCs is denied equal treatment and denied the ability to follow her desired path in life. The next issue is that one of the MCs realizes that they're gay however, once again, due to the time period it wasn't safe for them to be open about who they are. While they do find solace in certain people who feel the same way they do, there's still an overwhelming sadness about the closeted nature with which the MC must live. Finally, as it is war time on and off throughout the book there are instances of torture, death, and murder throughout the entire plot, including one of the MCs accidentally killing a child during a conflict.

drlove2018's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Lots of palace intrigue tropes and internalized homophobia, but the two main characters are vivid and their relationship is well-crafted

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Murder, Abandonment, War

Minor: Child death, Cursing, Death of parent

k_galloway's review against another edition

3.0

challenging emotional tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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slowwwwwww pacing. it felt like pulling teeth trying to read this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Xenophobia

Moderate: Gore, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Murder, War

abby17's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous dark emotional tense 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: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Homophobia, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Death of parent

mpbookreviews's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous emotional informative medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Abandonment, Colonisation, War

Minor: Child death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Slavery, Blood, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail

cumbresdelibros's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark funny 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

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Advertencia de contenido: Sangre, asesinato, p3d0filia, intentos de abuso.

Si hay algo que me gusta muchísimo es la fantasía casi medieval y medio épica. 
Este libro me hizo recordar porqué Juego de Tronos fue una de mis sagas favoritas. 
Nos presentan a tres personajes: Radu, Lada y Mehmed. 
Radu y Lada, hermanos desterrados. Mehmed alguien importante en el imperio otomano.
Sus caminos se entrecruzan y desde ahí empieza una especie des estrategia. Mantener o romper lealtades.
¿Hasta qué punto es justificable la crueldad humana por el poder? ¿Qué tanto ansían los personajes el poder y hasta dónde son capaces de llegar?

Un libro narrado a dos voces por dos personajes de la misma sangre, pero a su vez completamente distintos. Radu y Lada. Hermanos Dragwyla.
Una es toda aspereza, rabia e instinto casi animal y el otro es pura suavidad y tranquilidad.

En este libro hay bastantes conflictos, la narrativa es atrapante, la autora supo cómo hacer que yo sienta conexión con las escenas y casi sentía que estaba ahí y presenciaba todo.

Personajes bien definidos, trama que avanza lenta, pero segura, villanos bien construidos, héroes con moralidad cuestionable, muchísimos momentos en los que esperaba que suceda algo y pasaba lo contrario y era mucho mejor.


Todo lo bueno que puede tener el inicio de una trilogía que se llama "Los Conquistadores".

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Blood, Murder

Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual harassment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Pedophilia

andrikkk's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Homophobia, Rape, Sexism, Xenophobia, Grief