Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Children of Blood and Bone: Goldener Zorn by Tomi Adeyemi

29 reviews

ploceus_ymile's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

Despite it sometimes being trope-y and predictable and having a romance that felt forced/unnecessary, I really enjoyed the heart of this book and the worldbuilding.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Genocide, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Police brutality, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Sexual content

bookishperseus's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

charlotteschapter's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Torture, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child death, Racial slurs, Slavery, and Blood

Minor: Rape, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

squinnittowinit's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

2.0

Edit: After thinking on this book a bit more, I've decided to lower the rating from a 3.75 to a 2. I kept trying to convince myself that this was a good story because I keenly understand the place it was written from, but beyond the bare bones of it, I don't think it actually was. I didn't enjoy the characters and I felt like the plot didn't actually make a whole lot of sense. I've decided that I will not be reading the sequel.

Original review:
Overall, this is a good story with a (unfortunately) very relatable setting: an oppressive society that treats certain people as lesser due to something inherent that they cannot control. I felt the author's pain and anger surrounding this real-world issue in the writing, and perhaps if this had been my first exposure to the mindset of the oppressed group, I might have found it more impactful. However, I personally found it a little tiring for specific reasons that I will mark as a spoiler below. 

Again, it is a good story, just one I've seen many times already. Nothing about it surprised me and as much as I was rooting for them, I didn't love any of the characters by the end. I'm not sure if you're supposed to or not.

The specific reasons I found this book to be tiring have a lot to do with the main characters. All three were naive to a fault, and retained that naivete throughout the entire book, even as their views on certain things changed. I suppose it's realistic, as they are all teenagers and teenagers are very naive, but I found it very frustrating to read about them doing impulsive and very ill-advised things over and over again and then only afterwards thinking that they might have been bad ideas. 

Next, there is the issue of trauma. This is a book based in racial trauma, which makes it automatically not a fun read for me. Again, I really want to stress that I'm not saying it's bad, but it's very real, and it's hard to laugh at any of the jokes or moments of levity when the whole book is about oppression and I already experience oppression nearly constantly in my real life. 

Next, as I said above, nothing about this book surprised me. I was never on the edge of my seat or uncertain about the fate of the characters, because I've seen this story so many times. It hit all the beats I was expecting it to, and the only death I didn't predict was a character that I didn't care about at all. 

Finally, the romance. I'm all for a good romantic subplot, but I couldn't get behind this one. It was going for "enemies to lovers" but was done with no subtlety, I felt like I was being bashed over the head with foreshadowing about this relationship. Then, the actual enemies to lovers part happened seemingly overnight, and they suddenly didn't hate each other anymore. The romance gave me some emotional whiplash and made me feel like I was missing time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Racism, Death of parent, and Classism

Moderate: Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Vomit, and Sexual harassment

annorabrady's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Child death and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Sexual content, Slavery, Trafficking, and Sexual harassment

auberginehayz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional fast-paced

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

4.5

Overall a really compelling book, can'  wait to start the next one! I enjoyed the very different setting to Western fantasy and the different types of magics. Would love to have some illustrations of the animals as I found them a bit hard to visualise.
The characters were unique and relatable despite their flaws. The two main female protagonists were very compelling and I enjoyed their different points of view. 
Finally, the short chapters were satisfying and contributed to it being a real page-turner!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Genocide, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual content

robinks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.75

The world-building was a bit slow in the beginning, but once our characters’ stories started intersecting, the book moved so quickly. Inan’s character was a bit confusing to me (though I think he is also just confused generally), but I loved watching Amari & Zélie’s growth and relationship development.
Also, the complexities of revolution against oppression were present in the characters’ struggles and conversations, which inspired me to consider these same complexities in reality. I want to know more about this world, and I want to know what happens next!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Racism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Racial slurs, Slavery, Grief, Stalking, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Sexual content, Vomit, and Trafficking

lunep's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Racial slurs, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Infidelity, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Sexual content and Alcohol

Another TW: Colorism

cj13's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

Easily one of the most moving, well-written books I've ever read. The world of Orisha springs up around you as you read, and the characters come to life before your eyes. I cannot wait for the next book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Police brutality and Sexual harassment

Minor: Sexual content

tinnuben's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Sexual assault, and Sexual content