Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

The Last Sun by K.D. Edwards

6 reviews

anna_brawn's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual assault, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol

Minor: Slavery, Trafficking, Death of parent, and Colonisation

abelh's review

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

ambientdusk's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Violence, Trafficking, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Blood

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

jjjreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Fatphobia, Gore, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

Minor: Cursing, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Self harm, Slavery, Excrement, Antisemitism, Cultural appropriation, and Alcohol

rachratesreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny medium-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

5.0

I absolutely loved this book. The characters were well developed, the magic system was unique, the banter was hilarious, and the romance was a slow burn without distracting from the plot. I can't wait to start the second one and I am about to preorder the third. 

I won't lie: there is a LOT of heavy stuff in this book, but it is well balanced with humor, found families, and healthy relationships. A big theme in this book is healing from past trauma whilst still trying to move on with  life. It also introduces lesser seen trauma arcs, such as male survivors of SA. It's definitely worth the read if that is something you are interested in (and in the right head space for). Heed the content warnings and stay safe, friends. 

I do wish I didn't have to dig all over the internet to figure out how graphic sensitive scenes were, which is why I'm gonna put it here (under spoiler text). I know information like this can make or break a book, and no one should have to be blindsided by graphic depictions of sexual violence. These contain spoilers for the book. 

Rune was violently r*ped by nine masked men when he was fifteen. This is mentioned in the first few pages. That being said, he does have graphic flashbacks of said assault (in the English paperback) on pages 228-229. Later, he is antagonized, when one character admits to taking part in said assault, graphically describing what they did on page 343. The other mentions are not graphic. Please know that this is not at all romanticized, and Rune is not magically healed by having sex. The love interest is very understanding, which is extremely important to me. Hope this helps

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, and Death of parent

One recurring side character is suffers from an ED and her body is described when she is first introduced. One of the characters uses the "A" word to describe her when they are speaking later. It's implied that a character (who is a minor) was SA'd by a relative for a few years. This is never said explicitly, the MC just kinda puts the pieces together. The MC was SA'd and suffers from graphic flashbacks. Details about sensitive scenes below:

Rune was violently r*ped by nine masked men when he was fifteen. This is mentioned in the first few pages. That being said, he does have graphic flashbacks of said assault (in the English paperback) on pages 228-229. Later, he is antagonized, when one character admits to taking part in said assault, graphically describing what they did on page 343. The other mentions are not graphic. Please know that this is not at all romanticized, and Rune is not magically healed by having sex. The love interest is very understanding, which is extremely important to me. Hope this helps

booksthatburn's review

THE LAST SUN was all wrong for me. I like witty banter and political machinations, but it felt like the interactions were constantly being explained. I made it halfway through and never felt like the protagonists were actually in any danger. There’s a tragic backstory that’s just hinted at so far, and a bodyguarding mission where they’ve just left their charge at home while they take care of other plot stuff. For all Rune talks about his lack of power, it hasn’t actually inconvenienced him or kept him from getting something done. When the seer told him to take a set of actions, he followed the advice and then everything was fine.

The tension doesn’t feel tense and I don’t like the characters enough to care whether they succeed. It’s a shame because I loved the initial problem that Mathias presents, I just wish the story was doing more with him.

It definitely doesn’t help that a bunch of the worldbuilding is themed around the Tarot, a topic with which I’m only passably familiar. If you’d like a fast-paced fantasy story with magic and guns in New Atlantis that’s themed around Tarot, give this a try. It’s just not my thing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Vomit

Minor: Child abuse, Slavery, Trafficking, and Death of parent