Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters

10 reviews

tiernanhunter's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Rape, Abandonment, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Classism, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Racial slurs, and Grief

foreveristhesweetestcon's review

adventurous emotional 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

4.0

Tipping the Velvet certainly started out great. I was immediately impressed by the marked and beautiful prose Waters wrote with. It was the kind of writing that made you pause and marvel and want to live in the author’s thoughts forever. The novel also began with a very compelling romance as well as adequate pacing—I fell almost as much as in love with Kitty as Nan did (little did I know, there would be so much more to the novel). 

It’s one of those books that you need to be interested in the subject matter to fully enjoy and appreciate, however. Nan King’s 1890s London greatly paralleled the Prohibition-Era New York that I wrote my APUSH research paper about, so I was certainly intrigued by all the music halls, the cross-dressing, the toms and mary-annes. And you can tell Waters had done her research. However, between the drastic plot changes and sometimes dragging scenes of unlikeable characters, there were quite a few times when Waters lost my attention. That being said, the gorgeous prose and Nan’s multidimensional development were reason enough for me to finish the novel. 

And I am glad I kept going. I was often rewarded by reappearances of important characters—Florence and Kitty, of course, but also Zena, Diana, Billy-Boy (though I would have also loved to catch a glimpse of Mrs. Milde and Gracie again). I did not love the ending (I think I had issues with the pacing—too slow in the middle, too rushed at the end), but Nan’s development into a much more honest, hardened, and loyal individual was incredibly worthwhile. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Homophobia

moss_martii's review

emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Grief, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Classism

lynxpardinus's review

adventurous dark emotional reflective

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Lesbophobia, Classism, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Grief

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Misogyny, Cultural appropriation, Death, Alcohol, Sexism, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Trafficking, Dysphoria, Racial slurs, Confinement, Racism, and Suicide

Minor: Child death, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, and Miscarriage

arsenic_'s review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Homophobia, and Transphobia

Minor: Sexual assault

bruisedtigers's review

adventurous challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.5

I liked this book a lot to start, then found my enjoyment waning as it went on.

Nancy's story is broken into three parts. The first features her and Kitty, a stage performer who she falls in love with. For me, this was the most enjoyable part. Watching Nancy bloom from her humble roots into a star felt very tangible and the author paints a very charming atmosphere. The second part, however, changes tones and Nancy becomes a renter and eventually falls into the employment of a cruel older woman. This section, while I appreciated reading Nancy exploring gender presentation, has impending dread hanging over it. Nancy's decisions at this point (combined with another girl suffering for her mistakes) start to make her less endearing. The narrative doesn't excuse her behaviour, but it's no less frustrating to read -- and this continues for the third part. It's difficult to really feel enamoured with the third section, since Nancy spends a great deal of it being accidentally unkind and secretive. Her final and 'true' union suffers for this, sadly, since it doesn't feel as fully developed as it should.

Storygraph doesn't have an clear content warning that I can find, but I would forewarn for Nancy being forced into sex work, and the abusive relationship she finds herself in when part two begins.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Homophobia, and Toxic relationship

space_bandit's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Rape

Minor: Racism

cutewitch's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-paced

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

5.0

My god! I feel a fool for putting off this book for so long. Astounding—easily one of, if not my best books of the year. Not just a book, but literature… something I’ve been missing! Yes, my only complaint is that the beginning is slow; it’s true, the first 3 or 4 chapters I had a hard time getting through. But after that—wow, did I race through it this week! Yes, Nan is unlikable, but she’s real; isn’t that part of the point? You want your heroines to be perfect all the time? She is real, and quite unique, and all the characters around her are equally fleshed out. I also kind of wish that it was historically accurate; I didn’t realize it wasn’t until I read that bit bu the author included in someone else’s review. But that doesn’t really take away from it—the world feels so real, who cares if it isn’t?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, and Toxic relationship

denimtuxedo's review

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Body shaming, Physical abuse, and Sexism

foofymcgriddle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Racial slurs, and Physical abuse

Minor: Forced institutionalization