Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett

9 reviews

adragoninspace's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Medical trauma, and Murder

sarkbordark's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I did not expect this book to be so gruesome. While the magic system was pretty thought out, there were times it used elementary science that didn't need so much explanation. It had a weird mix of YA and grimdark. Also the romance was just kinda thrown in, like the author felt the need for a live interest, but there was very little connection between the reo characters. I am tempted to continue, bur it's not at the top of my list. Also the rape threat was thrown around a lot, I get tired of that. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Blood, and Cannibalism

stick2theplan's review against another edition

adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

I enjoyed this book and will probably read the sequel, but it’s not without its flaws. Foundryside required me to actively suspend my disbelief and hold it at bay. My foes in this task included an

ancient, sentient key

, whose anachronistic manner of speaking most closely resembled the “hello, fellow kids” meme, and a magic system that made less sense the more it was explained. And it was explained a lot.

Once I forced myself not to think too hard about it, I did enjoy Foundryside for what it is: a heist novel. The plot itself was solid and the pacing was good, though the ending felt a little abrupt. The book was laden with twists and reveals, some of which were very well executed. I also found the lore interesting. Because none of the POV characters understood the lore, it didn’t suffer from the over-explaining that hindered the magic/technology of the present. 

As for the characters, they were mostly likable but satisfyingly complex. There was appreciable, earned growth from all the secondary characters. I think I was most underwhelmed with the main character’s arc. I’d like to have seen more of her development manifest throughout the novel; it was sort of spelled out for her by a literal deus ex machina. So much telling, not enough showing in this book. Still, the characters did feel fleshed out. The tropey stock characters were few and far between. That said, Bennet uses the antagonist-to-ally bait and switch one time too many for the eventual antagonist reveal to have much shock value. 

At the end of the day, this is still a novel I’ll recommend to my friends. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical trauma, Murder, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Vomit, Trafficking, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

Minor: Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, and Car accident

idkimoutofideas's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Confinement, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Police brutality, and Alcohol

thelostsockdrawer's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Pedophilia, Sexual violence, and Trafficking

raneyak's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.25

Really enjoyed it! Good world building and an interesting magic system. Points docked for the lackluster romance buildup and overuse of the word “scrumming”.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Pedophilia, Sexual content, Vomit, and War

miggie_snyder's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

I ended up LOVING this book. But it took me 200 pages to get involved in the plot. As with most fantasy books, there is a significant amount of world building at the beginning and I found the pacing was pretty slow up until around page 200. From that point on, I fell in love with this book and immediately began the sequel the next day. Highly recommend if you can make it through those first 200 pages. 

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual content

jessthanthree's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-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? No

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Death, Gore, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Blood, War, and Classism

Minor: Mental illness, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Vomit, Cannibalism, Car accident, and Alcohol

jjjreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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? No

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment