Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Creatures of Passage by Morowa Yejidé

19 reviews

jlvwolf's review against another edition

4.25

Read the triggerb warnings before reading this book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Car accident

warning_about_sophie's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

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

4.25

An incredible read, and a book I couldn't put down, even when some passages are less well-written than the rest. 
It is a beautiful story about life and death and how love lives on, even in the darkest of places. 
The poetic entanglement of the mundane and the spiritual creates a sharp contrast to the atrocities lived by some of the characters and their trauma, which haunts the whole narrative. 
Be prepared, however, when you start reading, because this is a story about racial injustice and intergenerational trauma, and those themes are ever-present. 
I loved the many characters and following them through the grief of their past selves or their loved ones. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia and Sexual assault

audreylee's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

The timeline of this story ebbs and flows as does the river on which it is set. The structure of the novel uses Egyptian mythology and turns the Eastern U.S. into Kingdoms. The Kinwell family provides a link between the living and the dead. A beautiful tale of connection, pain, and melancholy set in the 1970s. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Racial slurs and Sexual assault

The sexual assault is more alluded to than described.

siobhan28's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.5

Definitely check the trigger warnings! Such a complex and lyrical book, I've never read anything like it. Blends some Egyptian mythology with magical realism and supernatural themes. The writing is poetic and lyrical 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Suicide, Violence, and Murder

zoscho's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious reflective sad fast-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Sexual assault

bobbyclark's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

3.75

Creatures of Passage is a very heavy and abstract speculative fiction, that reads like poetry and feels like mythology. Taking inspiration from Egyptian mythology, Yejidé navigates a somewhat simple story of a broken family in 70’s Washington DC through wave after wave of philosophy, culture, grief, and trauma. This is a beautifully written story, but you can’t escape the weight of it. This is not horror, but it is haunting.

The pace is slow and I do wish I had looked up the trigger warnings before jumping into this. I’m not sure I was mentally ready for some of the child stuff that this novel revolves around. While not exactly graphic, Yejidé does put you face to face with it. 

3.5 to 4 stars. I’m teetering between the two.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

dwejra's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.0

WARNING: Check the content warnings of the book because the blurb does not focus on what is the most important part of the story!

While Nephthys' story is important and ties together the stories of other people, it is not the most important plotline nor is she the most important character Instead, the main important storyline focuses around

a child molester and their many victims.

While for me that was not a problem, i probably wouldn't have chosen the book to read should I have known this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Racism, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Child death

rorikae's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.75

‘Creatures of Passage’ by Morowa Yejide is a gripping novel that utilizes folklore and fabulism to explore one family’s struggles. 
Nephthys drives an old Plymouth Belvedere around town, picking up people that need to go somewhere and ferrying them to their destination. Feeling lost ever since her twin brother was killed, she has drifted away from her family, her niece Amber who can see visions of people’s deaths and Amber’s son Dash, who has begun seeing visions of a man down by the river. When Amber sees a vision of Dash’s death, their three stories begin to intertwine back together. 
Yejide utilizes folklore and fabulism to explore the very real struggles of one family and the ebbs and flows of familial relationships. The story winds between different characters so that we get time with all of them as we begin to understand more about how they relate to one another and the world at large. On top of the main characters, we also follow Osiris, Nephthys’ twin brother as he moves through a murky afterlife as well as the antagonist of the novel. Yejide’s lyrical prose as well as the distinct characters that populate this story make this a memorable and affecting tale as we also learn how the characters have impacted their wider community. This book deals with a lot of difficult subjects and there is a very large trigger warning for child abuse. Some of this book was very hard to read but all of the pieces come together to tell the full story of this community and this specific family. Harrowing, heartbreaking, and heartwarming all in one, ‘Creatures of Passage’ is an excellent novel that showcases the real talent of Yejide. I am fascinated to see what she writes next.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Death of parent, and Abandonment

ogik's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and War

peachani's review against another edition

challenging dark tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Hate crime, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Murder, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Minor: Drug use, Rape, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Alcohol, and War