Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

83 reviews

moonytoast's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Cursing, Gore, Sexism, and Vomit

lavenderhimbo's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

This book is incredible. I only have a few critiques and they're not a big deal. The characters are consistent and unique, and they are clearly being set up for interesting arcs and growth. The worldbuilding is awesome so far and I can't wait to see where the plot goes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Racism, Self harm, Suicide, and Xenophobia

Minor: Homophobia, Sexism, and Sexual content

par0xys's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-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? Yes

4.5

What an amazing experience, listened to the audiobook and I cannot stop thinking about this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Death

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Confinement, and Physical abuse

saucy_bookdragon'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? Yes

4.5

"A false god is just as deadly as a true one."

Black Sun is almost a perfect epic fantasy! A world based on the Americas' pre-Columbian societies, the story had me captivated the entire time. I finished the entire book in only three days, only two of which I was actually reading it, I could not put it down any time I picked it up! Its a twisty game of gods and magic with a cast of characters that had me wishing they could live in better situations, I wanted to hold them in my hand and feed them nice treats.

Serapio is my son. Xiala is such a good execution of a character whose badass and rough who has a vulnerable soft side, I also loved the lore behind her and the Teek! Naranpa had such an intriguing plot and world building, a priestess unraveling a dangerous mystery. This plot and world mainly work because there's such an enduring cast at the reins of it, giving ample reason to care. I also adored how effortlessly queer this book is, practically every character is queer in some way and there are even two who use xe/xir pronouns!

What kept me from giving this a full five stars were mostly small things. I didn't care much for Okoa's POVs, not that I disliked him or his chapters, I just felt he came in too late for me to really connect like I did with the others. The cliffhanger ending makes the overall story feel incomplete, so my feelings won't be complete until I read the sequel or maybe even the entire series. But overall, this was an extremely promising start to the Between Earth and Sky series!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Death of parent

Minor: Homophobia

salemander's review against another edition

5.0

this book is fucking amazing. absolute genius 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

ash_ton's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Homophobia, Suicide, Vomit, and Alcohol

that_boi_eliza's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Alcohol, and War

Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Ableism and Confinement

jaynovara's review

adventurous mysterious 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Cursing, Sexual violence, and Religious bigotry

discarded_dust_jacket's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

This was utterly phenomenal, holy cow. Gripping from beginning to end, and I cared so deeply for each of the characters. Serapio and Xiala’s story arc especially just ripped at my heart. I cannot wait to find out what happens in the second book, even if I am moderately terrified it’s going to be painful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racism and Classism

Minor: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, and Trafficking

rlgreen91's review

adventurous 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? N/A

5.0

This was an unexpected delight!  I had an inkling I would enjoy the book - that's how it ended up on my TBR, after all, but I didn't realize I would enjoy it quite that much.  

Like a lot of people, I enjoyed the worldbuilding quite a bit.  It was fascinating to see how the author blended elements of different Mesoamerican cultures, such as patol (a real game!), turquoise and jade jewelry and decor, and cacao as a drink and currency.  It's a nice breath of fresh air as the setting for a fantasy series without requiring us to go off-planet.

I also enjoyed the depiction of how each of our main characters felt estranged from their community and to a larger extent from the people around them.  Through them, I feel like we've laid the groundwork to explore how different scenarios can affect that sense of estrangement, from connecting to others that also feel alone to reconnecting with family members. I'm interested to see how this plays out in the next book given how we're leaving off in this book.

Overall I really enjoyed this!  I'm sure I'll pick up the next book before the end of the year.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Physical abuse, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicide