Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev

10 reviews

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

4.25

This really tickled me, and I look forward to reading more from Ms. Dev. This had the caramel-thick tension of will-they-won't-they, and I really liked it. I also thought it did a really good job of portraying some beautiful sister moments, which always tug at my heart. Just a fun time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship and Bullying

Moderate: Death of parent, Medical content, Pregnancy, Classism, and Abandonment

Minor: Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Alcohol, Grief, Racism, Chronic illness, Cultural appropriation, Infidelity, and Police brutality

takarakei's review against another edition

lighthearted 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

3.0

I know this is meant as a Pride and Prejudice reimagining with a gender reversed couple (Trisha = Darcy and DJ = Elizabeth) but I really struggled with liking Trisha as a character. Yes she has character growth, but I found her to be so stuck up and had a hard time kind of forgiving her actions at the beginning of the book. I wasn't particularly attached to this story. It's definitely a slow-burn romance like P&P (nothing happens until the very end). I'd argue it's very loosely even a romance as most of the book deals with Trisha's family drama. It's also a very long book for what it is.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Cancer, and Racism

Moderate: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Medical content

Minor: Sexual content

thaliareads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

What a fun take on Pride and Prejudice. This book provides a completely new and original feeling story built off the tropes and plot elements of the original Jane Austen work. I did have problems with Trisha's attitude at certain points in the book, however as the "Darcy" character that is too be expected to a point. Overall this was a really great read and I can't wait to make it through the other books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Terminal illness, and Abandonment

Moderate: Miscarriage, Medical content, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Rape, Gaslighting, Infertility, Death, and Drug use

Minor: Racism, Police brutality, Sexual content, Rape, and Sexual assault

This book does have a lot of heavy content. DJ's sister is dealing with a cancer prognosis that will leave her changed forever, even if she does survive it. Trisha feels abandoned by her family after a toxic friendship led to her brother being put in an awful situation (

Her friend get's close to the brother, eventually drugging him, raping him, and filming it to try and get closer to him via eliminating his girlfriend

. DJ and his sister both encounter the same toxic friend that Trisha had previous experience with, leading to discussions of his rough childhood and raising his sister after both of his parents were out of the picture. Finally, Trisha's sister, after a long standing battle with infantility and miscarriages is finally pregnant, but the high risk leads to a tense situation.

jadatrack's review

emotional hopeful tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Racism, and Death of parent

Moderate: Pregnancy and Sexual assault

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual content

internationalreads's review

adventurous informative lighthearted 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Cancer, Classism, Grief, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Cultural appropriation, Dementia, Eating disorder, Death of parent, Medical content, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness

tctimlin's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

introduction to the Indian-American Raje family with the focus on brain neurosurgeon and workaholic Trisha who wants to heal every patient and who believes she is not welcome in her tight family circle because of a moment of terrible judgment back in her early college years.  The author flips genders (the “Darcy” character is Trisha, and the villain is her roommate Julia Wickham, while Darcy is the poor guy who can’t figure out how he is going to pay for his younger sister’s brain surgery).  I liked the fact that the author played with the expected gender roles and that she felt free to stray from the plot to make a story more consistent with modern day, and I liked all the Raje family characters enough that I’m looking forward to reading the rest of Sonali Dev’s Austen re-tellings.   

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Content Warnings

Minor: Pregnancy, Cancer, Classism, Medical trauma, and Sexual content

jlovesromance's review

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness

Moderate: Death of parent, Racism, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Miscarriage, Rape, and Sexual content

readwithde's review

emotional funny inspiring lighthearted slow-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

3.25

It is a truth universally acknowledged that if you claim your story is based on a classic, people might be disappointed if it's not.

Let me start by saying that the concepts around this story were excellent: gender-swapped lead characters, Bollywood-esque feel, lots of modern twists and issues. I loved the characters, the story felt real (though a bit overwhelming), and there was plenty of room for banter.

When I started reading it, I began thinking ahead about how it might connect to the original story -- if Yash is Jane, then his political career is Bingley? Inspired! And all of his events make a great modern twist on balls and dances -- and

spent several hundred pages trying to find the bones of the original before realizing it just wasn't there. 

Not to mention half of the interesting narrative I had to rewire in my brain once I realized they were gender-swapped, as the structure of families and lives felt more in line with Trisha being Elizabeth and Darcy "DJ" being Darcy. As if the same name wouldn't lead to more confusion. 

The main issue with all of this is that the story in the book didn't need to hang itself on the bones of Pride and Prejudice; it could have been a fairly decent narrative on its own. But by forcing that connection, it made an unspoken contract with the readers that was not met at all. So this lovely story about rising out of guilt and shame and grief, about feeling comfortable in your own skin, about how racism and classism and prejudice affect people daily, was forever ruined by its failed promises to look like something it wasn't meant to be. 

There's a beautiful story in there, as long as you ignore the title, the fact that the male lead is named Darcy, and that it should have any connection to Austen at all.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Medical content, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, Grief, and Miscarriage

smithy361's review

funny slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Sexual content

Moderate: Infertility

Minor: Cancer, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Dementia, Death, and Cursing

robynrambles's review

emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

I really liked this book, however, with Sonali Dev's other book 'Recipe for Persuasion' the amount of trauma she puts in the characters backgrounds is a lot for a contemporary romance. I don't think having a full background is necessarily a bad thing but she alludes to the trauma a lot and when it finally is revealed it seems much more serious than necessary for the main plot.  I would say this book is more inspired by Jane Austen than a retelling, she gender bends Darcy and Jane but there missing a lot of family dynamics.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Ableism, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship