Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Queen of Myth and Monsters by Scarlett St. Clair

6 reviews

turtles555's review

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense slow-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

The societal flaws the author confronts with clever telling of the lead's experiences is so on point. I did have to put the book down from time to time just to process the cluster-fck of crap-sht history of human power grabs. Because you know, set in a fictional world with all sorts of fascinating creatures, the author didn't miss a beat and the truth of all that she brought to light  required some proper grieving.

The examinations of colonialism,  villianisation of witches, and blatantly tolerated sexism, massively outplays the handful of non-plot beats that felt repetitive. That being said, the repetition may bring a sense of who our lead character is in the deepest corners of her heart. 

Bang on. Very much recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

kmayn227's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

2.0

Disappointing. They fight and have sec the whole book. mo relationship development

If anything they seem worse together

The plot barely progresses and is confusing at that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Death of parent and Pregnancy

thestickwitch's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

For me this was more of a back story book that really got you connected with the characters and their traumas with some sprinkles of happy moments and spicy scenes. While also showcasing how the character navigate through the traumas even in times of strife. I will be waiting in anticipation for book 3.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

mermaidmommy19's review against another edition

4.75

This was such a compelling sequel in my opinion. It was very good. There was a bit of over used vocabulary toward the end, such as "devastated" and "murdered" which I believe were intended to evoke strong emotion, but eventually lost all meaning due to over use. Beyond that, I don't really have any complaints.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Suicide, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Slavery, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury

livfowler's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Infertility, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

toffishay's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

2.5

I was disappointed by this sequel. I think that this book cranks up a lot of the messy and problematic pieces that were in the first book with less of the fun and intrigue. The pacing was also pretty crazy! Things were happening all over the place and major events were just being thrown in at the end of a chapter and then we all move on from it right away. It made it hard to care about anything that was happening. <SPOILER> I really don't know how I feel about Adrian and Isolde's characters after this book either. The pull and push and lack of trust maybe makes a lot of sense, but it was giving me whiplash to be constantly going back and forth with them fighting and fucking. I also found myself more uncomfortable with the presentation of Isolde's body and experience in this book. It was beginning to feel a bit fetishistic the way that her body and sexuality was being treated. Her backstory as coming from other dark-skinned people who are currently enslaved and the white man that she is with being unable or unwilling to understand her desire to free them felt gross. And the depictions of sexual assault in this book felt unnecessary to me. The magic stuff really came out of nowhere too and felt like a very surface level show of "women are destined for magic" "women are all witches deep down" online discourse. <END SPOILER> The smut it fun, but I just with that the rest of the book was as fun.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Child death, Domestic abuse, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Colonisation