Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

La biblioteca del Monte Char by Scott Hawkins

74 reviews

nookandcrannyseattle's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious sad tense slow-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

5.0

That was wild. I like how none of the "big twists" felt like "big twists" because the whole thing was so unhinged that I was prepared to take pretty much anything in stride. A bit like the characters themselves, I guess, which is a little unsettling. Also, this is the first book I've read in recent memory that has an epilogue that doesn't actively detract from the rest of the work. Unnecessary, but not unwelcome to revisit a favorite side character (albeit one I did not want to like as much as I did). 

I will say that this was GORY. Some scenes were very hard to read (see CW - rape, child murder, animal death) and I'm glad I was reading it in print so I could do some strategic skimming. So probably won't read again, but it was a spectacular one-off!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Excrement, Violence, Physical abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

thecrusty_clam's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, Gun violence, and Rape

onlyincursive's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-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

A wild ride from start to finish. This book is for the readers who grew up on stories about kids with powers (e.g. Animorphs, Percy Jackson) and who want the adult version. The type of book that I would recommend to everyone - if only the content warning list wasn’t so long!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Violence, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Torture, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Cursing, Rape, Drug abuse, Xenophobia, Car accident, War, Toxic friendship, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Misogyny, Bullying, Classism, Mental illness, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Islamophobia, and Pregnancy

This book is hard to warn for. Be especially aware that there is torture and murder of children

(many of whom are effectively immortal and experience this torture and murder multiple times)

, as well as a lot of animal death

(including many, many dogs)

.

chalkletters's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

It's pure coincidence that both my book clubs picked books with 'library' in the title in the same month, and that neither of them actually spend all that much time in a library or doing any reading. Of the two (The Library at Mount Char and The Library of the Dead), this book is far more action-orientated, which is even more surprising for a book supposedly about librarians. (At least in book form; film and TV librarians are quite often action heroes!) 

Scott Hawkins plunges readers straight into Caroline's life after Father (not her biological parent) goes missing, with only brief flashbacks to provide backstory. There's a lot of darkness in both the past and present, and it's interesting to see how it has affected all of Father's adopted children. By midway through the novel, it's obvious that there is a plan being enacted, even if the details of that plan aren't given. The introduction of other perspective characters complicates things. Erwin is even more of an action star than Caroline: a literal war hero who would feel at home in Modern Warfare or could be played by Dwayne Johnson. It makes The Library at Mount Char feel like two very different books smashed together, which certainly keeps things interesting! 

While it's never exactly clear what the 'win condition' of the novel is going to be, Scott Hawkins definitely throws in a late curveball once the titular library is actually reached. Up until that point, the character arcs feel like they're moving in a particular direction. After it, everything is up in the air and the final ending is far more bleak for everyone involved than might have been anticipated. The bleakness in itself isn't necessarily bad — Steve’s ending is beautiful, in a very bittersweet kind of way — but it does feel as though the novel swerved dramatically from the track it previously seemed to be following.

Despite the lack of what I'll call 'library aesthetic', I was never bored with The Library at Mount Char. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Suicide, and Death

Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Violence, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Rape

Minor: Car accident and Addiction

amriherd's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

That was wild.  And I was never bored.

Effortless, detailed world building. Darkest Academia vibes with uncompromising personalities you hate yourself for liking.  

It's a violent one, so buckle up if you're squeamish. It never felt unnecessary or gratuitous. It always served a purpose plot wise. And I greatly appreciated that sexual violence was implied not explicit when it easily could have been described for "the plot." Didn't play it for shock value.  That alone will have me reading more books by the author.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Rape, Suicide, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

libristella's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Suicide, Rape, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Murder, War, Body horror, Death, Sexual violence, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail

missdanielle's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Rape, Child death, and Drug use

Minor: Torture and Sexual violence

3martini's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Cursing, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Sexual violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Torture, Suicide, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Gore, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Child abuse

Moderate: Rape, Vomit, Drug use, and Gun violence

jlandie's review against another edition

4.0

Really enjoyed this one. Deeply fucked up, original fantasy. 

The chapters revolving around Carolyn and the other librarians were the best, and the chapters focused on Erwin should have been cut. Not nearly as interesting or endearing as the author thought. Points off for awkward dialogue at times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Child death

j_o600's review against another edition

4.5

Ok. First, excellent book. If you read it, you’re not going to understand what’s going on for awhile and that’s by design. 

I think there’s some amazing ideas at work, this is in many ways a meditation on trauma/PTSD and the way it shapes people. The structure is very different as a result, and I really like that instead of having a big superhero ending, the book has a weird, reflective ending instead. It feels like a more mature ending to the ideas the book plays with.

All that said, I’ve seen reviews that genuinely confuse me. It’s ok if you like a book or not, but, as an example, I saw someone mention pedophilia and be angry about it and to the best of my memory, that never happened. 
I saw someone else claim the point of the book is that extreme suffering is good actually, because it makes the best version of a person—and no. No, I’d even argue that the book is almost the exact opposite of that. It’s arguably more about accepting how trauma can turn you into essentially a completely different person. 
As someone with a lot of trauma, I found how this was handled to be moving and empathetic. Not perfect maybe, but I don’t think anyone writing about trauma can be perfect.

I will caution that if abuse is a hard trigger for you, you probably don’t want to read this book yet. I’ve tried to include trigger warnings for what IS in the book. Take them seriously. 

Also, I see a lot of people getting upset about a POV chracter named Erwin who is your hardened older army type. He is a complex character who has multiple functions in the story. I think he needs to be there, and while he wasn’t my favorite character, he fits into the themes of PTSD (I think for obvious reasons). I don’t think the author intended him for any type of propaganda and the book intentionally stays away from anything political. I think the government and military are not idealized by any means in this story. But I see that he’s triggering people, and I understand that a military POV character could be a trigger so, if you’re upset reading this review, again, avoid book.

That said, I do think this is original and I really liked some of the bigger reveals near the end and how they developed Carolyn and Steve specifically. And the lions are amazing, best characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Torture, Violence, Gore, and Suicide

Moderate: Rape and Sexual violence

Minor: Animal death and Death of parent