Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

Sister, Maiden, Monster by Lucy A. Snyder

27 reviews

thekazm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Violence, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Cannibalism, Cursing, Death, Pregnancy, Vomit, Cancer, Death of parent, Child death, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Infertility, Sexual content, Murder, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Chronic illness, Confinement, and Kidnapping

chasingpages1's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Torture, Cancer, Body horror, Mental illness, Murder, Suicide attempt, Violence, Pregnancy, Death, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Sexual content, Kidnapping, Confinement, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Cursing, Gaslighting, and Genocide

Minor: Trafficking, Gun violence, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Grief, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Stalking, Abortion, Death of parent, Infertility, Rape, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

tifftastic87's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Three women loosely related to each other experience the effects of a viral infection that has devastating consequences for humanity. It is so hard to give a synopsis for this book, so maybe just words: queer, apocalypse, eldritch horror, Catholic imagery, biblical angels, feminine rage, cannibalism. 

This definitely made me squirm a couple of times! The descriptions are vivid and full of gore and viscera, including descriptions of taste. So, there's a warning. But what the book has to say about the roles of women in society, their expectations and how they're viewed is so well done. I loved the use of the three POVs from women who were all so strong and all so different. I loved how science was used, the explanation of the virus was so so good. It is hard to say much more without spoiling. The only thing was the ending was a little bit disappointing. But only because I think I wanted just a little bit more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Body horror, Murder, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Infertility, Police brutality, Cannibalism, Medical content, Sexual content, Gore, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Death of parent, Vomit, and Stalking

Minor: Sexism

kurumipanda's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Blood, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Violence, Murder, Vomit, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Body horror, Pandemic/Epidemic, Medical content, Self harm, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, Sexism, Grief, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Police brutality, and Suicide

Minor: Sexual assault and Trafficking

kek513's review

dark fast-paced

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

3.0

Started strong as an engaging pandemic tale but really lost the the thread halfway through and didn't recover. The POV shifts for the first time at about 50% of the novel and the pacing never recovers, all tension is lost. And I was disappointed in the ending, it felt so limp and unsatisfying. There was some real potential with this setting, and I enjoyed the set-up, but much of the second half felt 'edgy for edgy's sake' and the dialog got weak.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Body horror, Genocide, Gore, Murder, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Cannibalism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Cancer, and Kidnapping

Minor: Infidelity, Trafficking, Adult/minor relationship, and Death of parent

cleot's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

It's not that the writing quality was bad, the story was just intense in a way that isn't to my taste. See content warnings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual content, Violence, Body horror, Cannibalism, Pandemic/Epidemic, Self harm, Gore, and Medical content

Moderate: Confinement, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Kidnapping, and Police brutality

Minor: Racism, Body shaming, Trafficking, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Child death, and Cancer

under-negotiated kink, blood kink, self surgery, sexual gratification from murder, false rape claim, parasite/ parasitic pregnancies

grey_jayne's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Sister, Maiden, Monster is wild! Lucy A. Snyder has a disturbingly fucked up bent for visceral body horror. This is definitely the best cosmic horror book in a while and I enjoyed how gay everything was. The imagery, the transformations, there is so much great horror here too. I will warn that the story's pandemic happens after the "coronavirus years" and follows the same procedures we had to, so could be triggering and too soon for some. Definitely check the content warnings.

Since this book is gloriously queer, I was let down by the use of "his or her" and other binary language. This is the second 2023 Nightfire book in a row to do this. We deserve better.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Gore, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Body horror, Suicide attempt, and Chronic illness

atranscryptid's review

challenging dark 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? No

5.0

This was so gross. I loved it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Gore, Murder, Police brutality, Self harm, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Body horror, and Violence

kelisabeth's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Police brutality, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, War, Alcohol, Cancer, Rape, Infertility, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Animal death, Cannibalism, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Pandemic/Epidemic, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, Death, Medical content, Trafficking, Abortion, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Miscarriage, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Animal cruelty, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Violence

silentquercus's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Cannibalism, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Murder, Police brutality, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Body horror, Violence, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Self harm, Pregnancy, Stalking, Blood, Confinement, Gun violence, Infertility, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Drug use, Ableism, Genocide, Excrement, Trafficking, Death of parent, Mental illness, and Abortion