Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Malice by Heather Walter

11 reviews

mirandyli's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Great sapphic fantasy with an underdog main character. Predictable at times.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

sav_22's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Torture, Police brutality, Medical content, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, and Colonisation

venti's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

feels like a set up for the next book — which i’m not complaining about because i’m sure it will be great, but would have been cooler maybe in one big volume like priory? idk 🤷 i liked alyce and aurora, but was so annoyed the whole book when alyce was constantly getting shit on. hope she kills them all in the next book! 😜

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, and Abandonment

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, and War

ninamanon's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

3.75

What a great original take on the fairytale! I loved the world building and the magic system. Especially the first half of the book was thrilling and I couldn’t put it down. 

The writing was a bit too obvious and over explaining to my taste, sometimes. Some things would’ve worked better if they were left for the reader to figure out and conclude. 

The main twist could be spotted from a mile away. Maybe that was intentional! But it didn’t really work for me. 

I also didn’t feel a lot of chemistry between the main couple. It felt a little forced. There was barely any buildup. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Racism, Xenophobia, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Death of parent, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

lunar_song's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-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

5.0

Review coming soon

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Violence, Medical trauma, Murder, and Abandonment

Minor: Sexism and Lesbophobia

thehappylittleelf's review against another edition

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 thought there could be no more clever twists to Sleeping Beauty, but boy was I wrong! This is a really clever re-telling with a fantastic magic system and a compelling main character. How do you get me to cheer for the utter destruction of the world? 
This. This is how.
I was hooked all the way through. Kudos for the author, this is a really creative story. I have already bought the sequel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Blood

Moderate: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Murder, and Lesbophobia

cbg11003's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-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

The author herself said on TikTok that this book would tear me apart. Did I hear those warnings? No, I did not. I love and hate these characters so much ending this book and realizing I need to wait for the sequel caused me actual pain!
If you like fantasy, the sleeping beauty story, and/or sapphic stories and don't mind having your heart played with, definitely give this book a go.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Blood, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, and War

Minor: Animal death and Body shaming

ednam0dewannabe's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Drug use, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, and War

booksthatburn's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

3.5

MALICE is a well-crafted Sleeping Beauty retelling which features a protagonist struggling against monstrosity until it feels like her only path for survival. Alyce is fantastically self-centered in a way that is at once completely understandable and the makings of an excellent villain-protagonist. She's trapped in a brutal system which pretends to be a gilded cage for most but has always been pointedly cruel to her. The rivalry between her and Rose was well-developed, with a sense of history and several meaningful shifts when Rose drifts from being the main antagonist to merely an annoyance as Alyce's problems become so much bigger than what's happening in Lavender House. 

The romance is fine, I guess, not my favorite but not terrible. It's not the core of the story and I don't think it's trying to be. As a retelling, this doesn't require any knowledge of the source material. While it's more than referential, it remixes and reframes the pieces until it's a new story which can stand on its own. I actually think it reads much better if you're not trying to see where it compares to the older story. I like how it dives into the Fae side of the story without moving the setting away from the kingdom, their lives are affected by the big deeds and magical pacts of hundreds of years prior but they just have to get through today, and the next day. 

I was troubled by the way it uses references to the Pleasure Graces without actually clarifying what their role is. It felt like it was heavily implied that they're sex slaves (where slavery feels like too strong of a term for the other Graces even though they're just as trapped, but feels extremely appropriate if the Pleasure Graces have involuntary sex work as part of their Crown-mandated position). If all that's happening is their gift is used in potions that help other people have better sex then I wish the novel had taken the time to clarify that point. Instead, it uses a scene with someone pretending to be a Pleasure Grace, intimating that she's there to provide the kind of service to a new bride that has historically been associated with concubines and sex workers, and doesn't provide clarification. If the Pleasure Graces are sex slaves then that should have been the rallying cry, not the much weaker claims about wishing for the system to be "better" somehow. Basically there's just enough detail to be very uncomfortable and not enough for me to be sure that I'm incorrect about my guess. Ultimately it's a small part of the story and I'll keep an eye on how that aspect is handled (if at all) in the sequel.

Overall this is a solid retelling and a good novel which depicts the slow slide of a trapped young woman into the monster everyone already thought she was.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, and Blood

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Child abuse and Death of parent

ashleycmms's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Different magical beings. Several kinds of beings have been wiped out of existence and have experienced immense hate.