Reviews tagging 'Trafficking'

The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty

30 reviews

chloelai12's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

Wow this woman can write politics. One of the most complicated and enriched fantasy worlds I’ve read. 

I will start by saying I want Nahri to destroy the lives of every single one of those men. My girl didn’t deserve any of that. Dara had me in the first half and I was rooting for him whilst Ali annoyed me for 60% of the book. But you lost me at the forced coercion my guy. And actually, as much of a self righteous brat Ali could be, he was the only one was truthful to Nahri when everyone else lied to her face but still expected the most from her.
I hope if anything (though I doubt it will happen) that Nahri rinses these men for filth, takes over the city for herself but keeps Ali as a friend because she does not need that stress . 
I’m still pretending those ears aren’t a thing.

ALSO IM RIHJT ABOUT THE UNCLE DAD?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Body horror, Vomit, Violence, Sexism, Child abuse, Confinement, Alcohol, War, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Self harm, Rape, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Colonisation, Bullying, Death, Cursing, Trafficking, Torture, Slavery, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Murder, Medical trauma, Medical content, Genocide, Hate crime, Blood, Gore, and Grief

saracat's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I devoured this book. If I had started this book at the beginning of a weekend, I would not have slept before finishing it. 

I did listen to the audiobook, so sometimes I lost track of who was who since many of the characters have titles and/or nicknames that they are called by.  But, typically, back tracking about 30 seconds after pausing to think about who was in the scene typically straightened things out for me. 

I loved the main characters and was really drawn in to the story. I really appreciated how one of the main characters just didn’t automatically become perfect at something simply because of some innate abilities. I also loved how grey things felt. 

I can’t wait to jump into the next book. Especially after the epilogue in this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Death, Hate crime, Trafficking, War, Emotional abuse, Slavery, and Grief

Minor: Genocide, Blood, Medical content, Police brutality, Torture, Rape, Abandonment, Alcohol, Racism, and Murder

dreadspawn's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Medical content, Slavery, Blood, Murder, Trafficking, Violence, War, and Xenophobia

Minor: Rape

reddeddy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Trafficking, Blood, Classism, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Body horror, Gore, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Slavery, Xenophobia, Racism, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, and War

Moderate: Grief, Misogyny, Confinement, Cursing, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Animal death, Alcohol, Bullying, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Genocide, Animal cruelty, Dysphoria, Racial slurs, and Sexism

Minor: Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Infidelity, Child death, Outing, Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Torture, Child abuse, Biphobia, Antisemitism, Chronic illness, Police brutality, Drug use, Sexual assault, Cultural appropriation, Body shaming, Islamophobia, Infertility, Physical abuse, and Rape

jenn_amanda's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Alcohol, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Sexual harassment, Xenophobia, Genocide, Classism, Racial slurs, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Trafficking, Violence, Kidnapping, Slavery, Torture, War, Hate crime, Murder, Racism, Blood, Child death, and Cursing

bobbyeight's review against another edition

adventurous 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

5.0

I am unwell. Just couldn't put the book down, it's 1am and now I don't know what to do with my life 😂 (thankfully I have book 2 to jump into)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Violence, War, Slavery, Racism, Death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Torture, and Child abuse

Moderate: Trafficking

Minor: Rape and Death of parent

francestea's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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 exciting and enjoyable read! 

The first hundred pages were slow-medium paced while Chakraborty set the scene, but once I was accustomed to the world and characters I flew through the next 400+ pages completely engrossed.  She’s so clever at not giving everything away at once, there are some elements of the story we are kept in the dark about right up until the epilogue and others not resolved at all! This book is laying all the ground work for (what I hope is) very exciting book 2!!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War and Violence

Minor: Police brutality, Slavery, Racism, Rape, and Trafficking

boba_n_books's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

If you’re looking for something magical, beautiful, and intriguing… you’ve found it in The City of Brass. 

This gorgeous novel takes readers on a fantastical journey throughout the djinn world in the Middle East: Daevabad. Told through two perspectives, one insider and one outsider, you slowly learn more about the politics and racial tensions between the different tribes of djinn and the half-breed shafit. 

Tensions run high, and allegiances will be tested as both POVs learn to navigate the world of Daevabad. Everything is not as black and white as it seems. Who can they trust? And how can they tell what is right? 

You will absolutely fall in love with this world and the characters who inhabit it. I’m immediately picking up book two because I have to know what happens right now. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Racial slurs, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death, Racism, and Slavery

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexism, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Grief, Trafficking, and War

Minor: Rape

hannah_and_her_stories's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Murder, and Racism

Moderate: Alcohol, Cursing, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Blood, Trafficking, Slavery, Sexual content, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Minor: Child death and Rape

ericageorge91's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

I LOVED IT! I FUCKING LOVED IT! 

It’s been about two months since I’ve been this invested in a book’s characters and their world. City of Brass might not be for everyone, BUT IT SURE AS FUCK WAS FOR ME 😭

The world-building was lush and intricate. If I’m honest, it might have been a little too intricate at times 😅. I fought for my life trying to understand the different djinn tribes and their characteristics and politics. Did it pull me out of the world at times because of that? Yes, but once I got the hang of this world, I was sucked in. This was set in a Middle-Eastern/Muslim-inspired world, which might be tough for Western readers but, I think if you can read Game of Thrones, you can make it through this book. 

Part of me wishes that Nahri and Dara had gotten to the City of Brass sooner. Another part thinks that we needed time for that relationship to grow from reluctant allies to something more. Because they took so long on this arduous journey, their feelings for each other felt earned. I got so into it, I could almost forget the age gap.

Almost 🥴

This story is full of magic, morally grey characters, and political intrigue. There is so much history and bad blood between various characters and groups of people that I don’t even know who to root for. I ate this shit up. I can’t wait to see what’s next!

TW: Death, violence, slavery, human trafficking, torture, age/gap romance, discrimination, rape (mentions/off page),

Rep: BIPOC characters, Middle Eastern characters, queer SC characters 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Slavery, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Trafficking, Classism, Alcohol, Medical content, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Rape and Child abuse