Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

The Free People's Village by Sim Kern

4 reviews

parkerela's review

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Racism, Death, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Transphobia, and Police brutality

isitnaptimezo's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

I loved this book. The alternative timeline made the plot feel different enough from reality while still being realistic. Being set in the city I grew up in, yet having extremely mixed feelings about, was somehow a healing balm to my heart. The characters were very relatable and I learned so much from each of them. The story is raw, heart wrenching, while also being immensely inspiring, especially as we head into what will undoubtedly be a tumultuous election year. Will the conditions be right for Free People Villages to sprout across the world in 2024 for a revolution? I hope so. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Addiction, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Death, War, Transphobia, Violence, Racism, and Sexual content

miggyfool's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Misogyny, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Gore, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Rape, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Colonisation, Xenophobia, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Animal death, Physical abuse, War, Alcoholism, Blood, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Racism, Sexual harassment, Violence, and Vomit

takarakei's review against another edition

dark emotional tense 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

4.5

This is a heavy book, but it's well worth the read. 

There is a big theme in the main character Maddie experiencing that feeling of 'what if' she had done x differently. And of course the answer is that A) we can't change the past and B)such minute things that happen really don't make a difference long term. I found the point of this book to be that anything that has happened in the past if changed (Al Gore winning for example) wouldn't have made any real difference in terms of where we are sociopolitically today. Because we live in a white supremacist capitalistic society and those oppressive societal structures need to be completely removed before society as a whole could drastically change for the largest group of people worldwide. We individually can make certain choices and work together to make change, but ultimate it's these oppressive power structures which keep our society stagnant.

I thought the themes of greenwashing (aka furthering capitalism through consumerism) were so realistic. This captured what it's like to be a white woman involved in activism so well. How there are so many cringe moments when you are trying to help and learn, and sometimes you just get it wrong. It's a rather bleak outlook, but the ending does sew some seeds of optimism and inspiration (the mycelium quote blew my mind).

I know I'll be thinking about this book for a long time and recommending it to a lot of people.

Thank you Netgalley and Sim Kern for the ARC!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Alcoholism, Death, and Racism

Moderate: Emotional abuse, War, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Grief, Deadnaming, and Rape

Minor: Transphobia

Animal death/cruelty - some passages I had to skim over of a MC talking about their upbringing were graphic