Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

The Devourers by Indra Das

9 reviews

smoothlikebutter's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gore, Death, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Violence

Queer werewolves

mle11's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexism, Sexual assault, Blood, Cannibalism, Stalking, Violence, Cursing, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Animal death, Rape, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Biphobia, Excrement, Homophobia, Vomit, Hate crime, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Kidnapping, and Self harm

Minor: Colonisation and Drug use

ssjd411's review

adventurous 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

4.0

Beautifully written and very dark. The story held my attention even as it got darker and more violent. The character development is so rich that it pulls you through the death and destruction. It's like nothing I've read before, and it will stay with me for a long time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Stalking, Sexual assault, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Excrement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Cannibalism

tahsintries's review

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault

Moderate: Murder, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Body horror, and Misogyny

Minor: Homophobia and Transphobia

triforcefusion's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

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

2.25

This was a very, very odd read. I applaud the writing, and the mythology building. I could do without the very Freudian psycho-sexual aspect that permeates the book, especially the practice

of the Devourers grooming their newly made, or born, shapeshifters into then having a sexual relationship</spolier>. I also have a hard time with the author identifying as a cis male and writing about a woman's sexual assault and then making the whole book a metaphor for

transgenderism

. I see that people praise the way he handles it, but I felt like the metaphor is really twisted an dark, and the

transgender reveal

feels like "Oh, this kinda fits" without considering the unredeemable nature of the Devourers. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Violence, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Murder, Self harm, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Death of parent, and Vomit

Piss and urination happens a lot

lanid's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Violence, Excrement, Sexual assault, Body horror, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Gore, Death, Blood, and Cannibalism

Minor: Biphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Suicidal thoughts

talonsontypewriters's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Animal death, Body horror, Cannibalism, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Violence, Death, Murder, Rape, and Death of parent

Moderate: Kidnapping, Child death, Abandonment, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Sexism, War, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Vomit

Minor: Classism, Homophobia, Transphobia, Colonisation, Abortion, Dysphoria, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, and Racism

Smoking. Urination. Discussion of and explicit descriptions of rape, as well as depiction of aftermath, but no extended scene. Sexual coercion, victim blaming/justification of rape (by character; criticized by others and narrative), discrimination against sex workers. Pregnancy and birth by rape. Decapitation. Metaphorical mentions of bestiality. Sexual relationships in a shapeshifter-unique dynamic compared to but not necessarily equivalent to parent-child dynamics, where one party has sometimes been raised by the other since youth; discussed and alluded to, but not graphically shown on-page.

aardwyrm's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Like all the best horror, weird, gross, kinda horny, never fully explained, rich and dreadful and spooky and gory, gets its claws in and won't let go. Warning: One of the POV characters is a rapist. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Cannibalism, Classism, Rape, Child death, Death, Drug use, Excrement, Homophobia, Suicide, Violence, War, Abortion, Animal death, Body horror, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Kidnapping, Stalking, Vomit, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, and Torture

2000sanimeop's review

dark

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

1.5

This was a deeply disappointing, joyless, and honestly gross read. My primary reason for finishing the thing rather than dropping it entirely was that I was compelled to find out what happens. Now, having completed it, I can tell you that it was Not Worth It.

The Good
The writing is competent and has a good flow. I enjoyed the kind of Interview With a Vampire Werewolf that it had going on at first, but as the story went on, it became less effective as a framing device.
 
The Bad
The author's understanding of women appears to be wholly limited to the pain and suffering inflicted upon them by men. That's all there is for women in this joyless book.  Initially, I appreciated the rage that Cyrah feels in response to the constant violence visited upon her, but it's ultimately impotent and meaningless.

Speaking of meaningless, the very first thing I did after finishing this book was google

"Is Indra Das trans?"

, preparing to eat my hat if I was wrong. My hat remains intact and uneaten. I'm baffled at this last-minute swerve, when I genuinely can't recall a single thing that could have foreshadowed it. This aspect of the main character almost feels like it's just there to complement the other bookend character, who actually had potential gender happenings and thoughts within the story. With that said, this second character more or less tells the MC

in the future I will live as a woman, but my mom is the one that will be living, and I will be my mom

. Yikes!

In general, this book is a total slog, despite being on the shorter side. The world Das has created is downright Hobbesian, and I can only read so much of that before I wonder if there is a point to it all. 

The Smelly
This book is obsessed with stank, and not in the way people horny for werewolves usually are. If I had read a print copy of this rather than listen to the audiobook, I genuinely would not have finished it. Why do these characters piss and shit themselves so much?! If you think I am exaggerating, go ahead! Read this accursed thing to prove me wrong (you won't.). By comparison, I do not feel the violence/gore is particularly visceral, and I did not have any issue with that at all. 

In general, it did seem like Das tried to write from an informed perspective, but he really, *really*, missed the mark. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Blood, Rape, and Misogyny