Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

20 reviews

leoniefnk's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Death, Grief, Child death, Sexual violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Child death, Classism, Death, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Incest, Infidelity, and Police brutality

Minor: Cursing, Car accident, War, Body shaming, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Violence, Vomit, Animal death, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

hannah_cogo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Murder, Police brutality, Abandonment, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Incest

kibiiiariii's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad slow-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? It's complicated

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Gore, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Racism, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Ableism, Blood, Child abuse, Grief, Rape, Death, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Sexual harassment, Fatphobia, Abandonment, Classism, Cursing, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Violence, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Murder, and Pregnancy

miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Oof

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Confinement, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Murder, Classism, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Death, Body horror, Colonisation, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, and Vomit

ireeeeeene's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Blood, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, and Racism

Moderate: Incest, Death of parent, and Vomit

devorahthebee's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment

moosash's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

• loved the pacing of this, first and foremost. it shifts to anecdotes from the past and present; the weight of these juxtapositions (among many others) or contexts will get heavier as the story and their milieu unravels.
• let me also just mention the metaphors... THE METAPHORS... personally, this book holds some of the most visceral images that it's crazy how it attempts to translate familiar, abstract feelings and thoughts into concrete Small Things we can hold in our palms. the abstract seemingly materialize as flesh-and-blood characters/apparitions in the book that hold physical weight, and loom with effect and purpose over the ayemenem household, and in the other spaces they occupy.
• the characters (in this case, the family members) were also relatable in a way, or at least represent a part of the human psyche or family dynamic that we most likely possess/are familiar with, but often sweep under the rug.
  Spoiler

  Ammu, their mother, described as possessing "the infinite tenderness of motherhood and the reckless rage of a suicide bomber"; the Unspoken Love Laws that lay down "who should be loved and how. And how much" + the pain and pleasure that comes with that rebellion; the heavy feeling of doom that lingers in the air after a young child unknowingly sprinkles salt in the wound of an adult, the feeling of being "loved a little less"; the small envy towards a cousin/family member that seems to be "Loved From The Very Beginning"

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, and Grief

jordan21's review against another edition

This was a weird, chaotic sometimes graphic book that just couldn’t grab my interest. It was a chore to read even 70 pages, and life is too short to spend on unenjoyable stories. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Child abuse, and Child death

warboyziri's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-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? No

This was a really hard read but I'm glad I read it. Hard because of Arundhati Roy's specific way of establishing incredible catastrophe in the first few chapters, and then filling out the story in reverse, in parallel, throughout the book. I'm amazing at the story structure, and impressed by how she managed to flesh out all the characters so well, explaining every good and bad trait in them and their motives. Ridiculously descriptive writing that feels meditative. Peaceful. Until it's describing a horror, when it feels suffocating and real. Insane book.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Classism, Violence, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Abandonment

sir_ren's review against another edition

challenging dark sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

firstly as someone from the state and familiar with the culture- I have to laud the author for her observations and addition of details that feel incredibly authentic (for lack of a better term) and made the novel feel so probable and real. the meticulously written particulars all seem to stem from an intimate knowledge of the place and its people. I do not mean Kerala and Keralites but of Ayemenam and those characters.    

the novel has a rather simple story- the main plot. even though I could predict the general plot of the story (as the novel is written switching from the past and the present) it was still engaging and interesting thanks to the writing and the details. the construction of the novel-  the unfolding of events and use of language make it satisfying and rewarding to see it all come together. 

the "Kid Speak" used in the novel tends to be polarizing as far as I can tell. some people put the book down to never complete it due to the language. not that I am in a place to be telling anyone what to do with their time, but I would still seriously encourage readers to stick it out even if they are mildly irritated by the peculiarities. my experience is that I found it puzzling at first and then interesting, but the novelty wore off soon and it started to feel badly used. but this changed as I kept reading, the way Arundhati Roy built her novel and used language- the payoff was Real for me. the "quirkiness" of the language turned into a blessing as the novel went on. Intimacy is what I experienced again. in a novel all about this family- to speak their secret language and to have a few odd words and phrases evoke all the emotions and thoughts that they did was a moment of intimacy with the novel and its characters. 

another point of contention tends to be the "villain", who some find to be a cartoonishly evil/bad person. in my opinion, the character was believable. 

now for the parts I did not enjoy. the book describes or mentions a lot of the uglier sides of human nature/bodies/actions. I felt the number of instances was a little excessive. maybe one or two could have been cut and the book could still retain its integrity. 
and I felt the Kid Speak could have been cut in a few places. but I am glad the language was what it was

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Blood, Grief, Incest, Abandonment, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, and Excrement

Minor: Alcoholism