Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth

32 reviews

quiet_reader's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Drug abuse, Vomit, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Sexism, Sexual content, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Lesbophobia

gardens_and_dragons's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, Death, Child death, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Sexism and Drug use

clarkg's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Reading this book felt like being under a spell. There were so many delicious threads to unravel that I could not stop picking at it until I reached the end. My two main critiques are that 1.) The present-day narrative is noticeably less captivating than the historical narrative and 2.) I feel like there were missed opportunities to subvert established tropes. That said, it avoided being predictable and had some genuinely unsettling moments. Reader, I loved it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Sexual content, Body horror, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Suicide, Pregnancy, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Sexual violence, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Cursing

celery's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Car accident, Child death, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Animal death, Cursing, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Blood, Suicide, Violence, Body horror, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Stalking, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Vomit, and Sexual harassment

ferns_citruscorner_8's review

funny mysterious tense slow-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

3.75

I have such a love and hate relationship with this book. I love the writing style and the language, by God, I truly do. I’m also amazed at this book for being my first book with polyamorous characters in it! I’m personally aroace and find it at times very discomforting (a lot of horny-ness), but loved the ending! Sometimes, one of the characters get so fecken annoying and edge-lordy, but I’m glad I decided on reading through. I’d recommend this to people who like long books with hella queerness in it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Violence, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Rape, Suicide attempt, and Fatphobia

sauvageloup's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense 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

3.0

glad to have read this, because the concept is fresh and interesting, and I need to read more wholly sapphic books. but it tried to do too much and didnt pull it off.
this review on tumblr by flying-elliska has all my thoughts well said:
https://www.tumblr.com/flying-elliska/672822130083233792/and-now-for-sapphic-reads-time-the-sequel-tm?source=share

pros:
- the setting was a fleshed out character in itself and I loved that. the orchard apples, the tower, the orangerie, the beach, etc.
- I liked the story of the original woman, simone, who lived on the land.
- some imagery was definitely creepy and disturbing, especially eating wasps.
- the main characters were interesting, and I liked that they became a poly triad rather than a love triangle.

cons:
- too many characters, too much rambling, too meta, too plotty and just too long.
- I never really got truly creeped out. it just didnt sink deep enough into that and there wasnt enough real danger. the deaths were distant and over fast. didnt feel that sad at any of them.
- more interesting to see more flo and Clara for sure.

a different read for sure and I'm glad I read it, but disappointing and a bit slow too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexism, Death, Infidelity, Cursing, Animal death, Body horror, Grief, Death of parent, Bullying, Child death, Alcohol, Murder, Misogyny, and Fatphobia

Moderate: Body shaming, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Vomit, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug use, Terminal illness, Classism, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Drug abuse, Addiction, and Suicide

achay91's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Death, Lesbophobia, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief

Minor: Vomit and Pregnancy

sparklefarm's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Well, that was a weird one. Very very gay. I didn't not like it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual violence

Minor: Sexual content

thekatreturns's review

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.75

I adored this book. I won’t say too much so as not to spoil it, but it was my favorite read of the year. It feels like a rebuttal to the way that horror stories are often told, but beyond being a statement about the world, it is frightening, engaging, and deeply, darkly funny in its own right. The main cast is almost entirely lesbian and bisexual women who are distinct and flawed and real and so interesting to watch interact. That said, unless I missed something, the main cast is all white Americans with some degree of class privilege. The class aspect is intentional and absolutely commented upon, for what that’s worth, and the supporting cast is racially diverse, so that’s why I marked “it’s complicated” for diversity. I knocked a half point off because I wanted more worldbuilding out of the ending, for what was revealed then to be discussed as it relates to the previous events of the book, but the very last chapters were immensely satisfying nonetheless. I would highly recommend this to horror fans of all kinds, metafiction fans, those who like stories interweaving the past and present, anyone into Fraught Female Friendships, and those who just love really wonderful-in-all-their-flaws queer woman characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Body horror, Death, Suicide, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Drug use, Homophobia, Cursing, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Sexual content, Misogyny, Outing, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Violence, Racism, Biphobia, Car accident, Pregnancy, Murder, Addiction, and Alcoholism

Insects, specifically yellowjackets, feature heavily in this book. They are included in nearly all of the horror elements. For me, graphic=extremely unavoidable, long, plot crucial elements. moderate= plot or thematically relevant, but don’t stand out as particularly graphic. Minor=not described in detail.

matcha_cat's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Sexual content

Minor: Homophobia, Infidelity, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Body shaming