Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Shards of Honour by Lois McMaster Bujold

36 reviews

halt_bullfrog's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.5

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

jess_justmaybeperfect's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-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

4.5

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

unsuccessfulbookclub's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

Fast paced and complex, a great mix of harder science fiction themes (interplanetary politics, war, space travel, medical advancements) and more relationship focused themes. I enjoyed the depth of character portrayal and commentary on politics, military service, humanity, leadership, trust and just… people. Excited to read more of this series!!
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

storyorc's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

4.0

Romance for adults. How have I never read a romance about two people finding love late in life before? And it's sci-fi! The stakes are high, the tech is creative (hello, artificial wombs with babies floating around that need looking after), and the cultures feel real enough to facilitate the conflict of ideals between leads. The politics also come across clever without taking up so much space as to be boring. 

What glows about this book is how it is so enjoyable despite featuring two mature, intelligent, measured characters. After a bit of a tumultuous forced-proximity start, it turns out they are both as  reasonable and generous as two people on opposite sides of an armed conflict can be. It's not a will-they-won't-they, it's a will-the-world-let-them-won't-it. There are moments of high drama, but also moments of day-to-day life. It makes the usual formula of pining and misunderstandings feel juvenile. Despite being set in the stars, this couple feels like they could be your aunt and uncle. Aspirational in a very comforting way.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

beccaand's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

3.75

adding Cordelia Naismith to my internal list of cool ladies I want to emulate
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

cu_detat's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

4.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

baileyes's review against another edition

Go to review page

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

mdpenguin's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

5.0

My brother has recommended this series to me many times and I can see why. Bujold's writing is excellent and her characters are unique, well drawn, and easy to get emotionally invested in. It's very military-ish and there are some really unpleasant parts that sometimes feel like they are taken too lightly, but I think that when you look at the whole book you see that it's just the characters plowing through the horrors of war moreso than the author taking the subject material lightly. That seems to be confirmed by the epilogue. Between picking this up and now, I've kind of shifted moods and so will hold off continuing with the series, but I suspect that it's the kind of series where you can pick up a book every now and then when you feel like it without losing much. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

obviousthings's review against another edition

Go to review page

I wasn't finding the romance all that romantic to begin with, and then at the end of Chapter 14 Vorkosigan mentioned something heinous that he essentially just... let happen?? If it was meant to be a huge red flag I'd keep reading, but it seems like the book is really pushing the narrative that he's a good guy in spite of what people say, and I just can't stomach that at this point.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

ithato's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous medium-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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings