Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Fruit of the Dead by Rachel Lyon

12 reviews

masonwe's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Blood, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Death, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

bookishrona's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

calicocola's review against another edition

Originally bought this book because of its stunning appearance (version not included on this website).
Tragically & perfectly captures the push-and-pull of its focal mother-daughter bond. It left me with a strange feeling - because, at 21, I am mentally very far from Cory’s guileless recklessness & insecurity, but also very far from Emer’s worn, guarded middle-age. There were definite sparks of recognition though, when it described the heady, thrilling concept of an older man desiring you as a teenager. And of course, the disappointing, sobering reality of such connections - where if he does reciprocate your affections, the relationship is irrevocably soured because he reveals himself as a sick monster. Rollo’s subtle (and not so subtle) manipulation was portrayed perfectly. Cory’s attachment to him is horrifically understandable, especially when

her dependence on his drugs factors into the equation. He knows how addictive they are; did he give them to her on purpose? As another means of controlling her? It seems likely - and, horribly, it works. The ending seemed so hopeful when Emer arrived and righted her previous mistake (walking out when Cory recounted her sexual assault). But the final lines, where Cory feels the pills & considers how long they’ll last - and realises that she will probably come back… Ugh. My instinct was to shriek because I desperately needed a happy ending after the suffering - but it fits the mythic inspiration perfectly. I can only hope that even if she does return, her trips back to the island will peter off as she heals & gets some addiction therapy. God I really really hope that happens, rather than what the mythic inspiration implies: an annual back & forth between the island & the real world.

This book hung me out to dry like a wet towel. It may go down in history as the only modern Demeter & Persephone retelling I actually enjoyed reading. An absolute buffet for people who like morally grey & (at times) unlikeable characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence

e11en's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Pedophilia and Blood

victoria_catherine_shaw's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Alcohol

kds247's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This is such a beautiful book. The text is almost like poetry and the two voices for both the mother and daughter are incredibly distinctive. I loved both of their voices more than I have in any other book. Now with that I would want to point out the content warning of rape and abuse. It is very much a factor that drives this book, and if it is a trigger for you do not read it. It was a very dark read but one of the most profound books I’ve read in a while. Specifically surrounding the themes of being a woman in all of its gorgeous and grotesque ways.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Death

megnut's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

An emotionally painful read. (As someone else put it: this was a story of trauma and control.)

The story was well done... but I don't feel comfortable recommending it. 

Cory's story made me heart hurt so much. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Drug use

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Death, Sexism, and Sexual content

ukponge's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Vomit

Minor: Death

btaylorb's review against another edition

challenging 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 I feel like there are a lot of recent retellings of the Persephone mythos that glorify her relationship with Hades as a romantic one, and this book stands out from that crowd as one that focuses on the mother-daughter relationship of Demeter and Persephone. 

The complicated mother-daughter dynamic goes hard. The shifting POVs of first-person past tense for Emer (i.e., Demeter) and a third-person present tense for Cory, (Persephone) is jarring at first but also is really successful at illuminating the differing levels of vocal power versus embodied presence in their narratives. Emer uses her own voice to narrate her story but she's reflecting on her actions from after the fact with an oftentimes detached outlook. Meanwhile Cory is denied her own voice for her own story, with a narration style that almost seems to float above her like an astral projection observing the actions of its living body, and yet her sensory experiences are immediate, in the moment and intense.

Poetic, lush, but also gritty and gray. Check your content warnings, but also: The potentially triggering scenes are handled with care and skillful language. Because we know the story, we know what to expect to a certain degree, and the difficult to read parts are not there for fun, or for edginess. This version of the Persephone story highlights some of its darkest parts.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use

Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

There are two instances of sexual assault. One occurs at the beginning, but it is an antecedent event that is more implied than described outright, and the focus is less on the assault and more on the moment when Cory tells her mother and how her mother reacts. It's meant to establish some of the complexity of the mother/daughter relationship in how the mother fails to aid her daughter. The second instance receives slightly more descriptive attention, but it's brief and, for anyone familiar with the source material, it should not be totally unexpected. It was still difficult to read. It's the one part of the book that I have complicated feelings over; it's definitely not written to be sexy or titillating in any way.

rebeccadiv's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Sexual violence, and Injury/Injury detail