Reviews tagging Sexual harassment
Son Espionne royale et les douze crimes de Noël, by Rhys Bowen
3 reviews
ladythana's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexism, Fire/Fire injury, and Infidelity
Minor: Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Racism, Gun violence, Suicide, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Sexual harassment, and Car accident
ladylothlorien's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
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? It's complicated
4.5
I was in the mood for a Jazz Age cozy Christmas mystery and couldn't resist jumping into the middle of this series that I have never read. Reader, it was totally fine. The author gave me enough information that I knew who everyone was and what their history was with Georgie, so I didn't feel confused about any of that. I suppose there wasn't much information about how Georgie has been involved in previous mysteries, but that only made me want to go back and read all of the previous books (and the ones that have been released since.
My brain has been a little fried lately, so I blame that for me not catching on to some of the elements of the mystery before they were openly revealed, but sometimes it's just nice to let a story unfold without doing too much guessing. I didn't have any trouble following the story and I don't feel like anything was over or under explained in the end. It was overall just a fun and perfect cozy Christmas story.
I listened to this on audio and I have to say the narrator, Katherine Kellgren, was FANTASTIC. In fact, I think I will make a point to listen to the other books in the series provided they are narrated by her. She did a great job differentiating voices, especially with differing English (and Irish) accents, so I almost always knew who was speaking (once or twice Georgie's grandfather and the local policeman were hard to differentiate). She kept the tone light and just fit this book perfectly.
My brain has been a little fried lately, so I blame that for me not catching on to some of the elements of the mystery before they were openly revealed, but sometimes it's just nice to let a story unfold without doing too much guessing. I didn't have any trouble following the story and I don't feel like anything was over or under explained in the end. It was overall just a fun and perfect cozy Christmas story.
I listened to this on audio and I have to say the narrator, Katherine Kellgren, was FANTASTIC. In fact, I think I will make a point to listen to the other books in the series provided they are narrated by her. She did a great job differentiating voices, especially with differing English (and Irish) accents, so I almost always knew who was speaking (once or twice Georgie's grandfather and the local policeman were hard to differentiate). She kept the tone light and just fit this book perfectly.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Sexual harassment, Kidnapping, and Sexual assault
It's a cozy mystery, so nothing is really too graphic in terms of the deaths, but still some of the ways in which people die (or are harmed) is a bit gruesome just in mentioning it (e.g., electrocution, being set on fire by a candelabra). And quite a lot of people die (or attempts are made on their lives). I also wasn't fond of the way that Georgie was sexually harassed by a couple of the men in the story; both of them put their hands on her legs at the dinner table and one of them clearly makes an attempt to assault Georgie in her bedroom while she is drunk (her maid interrupts and puts a stop to it). It wasn't graphic, but I didn't like how later Georgie pretty much tosses it off as normal. I understand that is probably a realistic way for Georgie to cope with it, but later she says she liked the man despite the incident. I don't want to have sympathy for him, thanks. He may not have deserved the end he got, but that doesn't mean his behavior was appalling and wrong.novi's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
This is a very cozy and jolly book. The whole story literally revolves around an old english christmas with the whole traditions (there's also some recipes and games instructions that are traditions in an old english christmas at the end of the book). The mystery wasn't really feel prominent until around 60% of the book, so just enjoy all the coziness while you can. I honestly didn't really care about the mystery and I already kinda guessed it from the beginning. But that's not why I read this book, I read it for the coziness and for the romance because I love Georgie and Darcy. Btw Darcy is really not shown as the badass smart bad boy here, we're just told that maybe he's kind of a spy that does all kinds of dangerous jobs in "exotic" countries but it's all tell tales. I don't really see him as that person here, possibly because the author wants Georgie to be the center of the action, which, understandable and that's the point of the book but I also want to see them to be this power couple and we just didn't see that in this book.
This book is not perfect at all, there are things that I wish would go the other way in the investigation of the mystery, and this book is problematic, it's still very much royalty minded/sided without challenging any of the conservative notions in it, there are characters dressing up as gypsies and doing blackface, and it also didn't handle the topic of sexual assault very well. So. Yeah. Ugh.
This book is not perfect at all, there are things that I wish would go the other way in the investigation of the mystery, and this book is problematic, it's still very much royalty minded/sided without challenging any of the conservative notions in it, there are characters dressing up as gypsies and doing blackface, and it also didn't handle the topic of sexual assault very well. So. Yeah. Ugh.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cultural appropriation
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Racism
Minor: Racial slurs, Sexism, Vomit, and Xenophobia
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