Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Shards of Honour by Lois McMaster Bujold

30 reviews

ponypal's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

4.0

Mostly holds up but has some stuff that seems dated, especially what was considered "feminist" at the time.
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heydebigale's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny

4.25

CW: sexual assault, gore, violence, torture

A bit more violent than I was expecting but I found this story extremely compelling. 

Notes: Aral is a bisexual Barrayan (extreme military patriarchal society) soldier. Cordelia is the captain of an exploratory scientific ship and is part of a more cerebral society. 
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jhbandcats's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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

5.0

This is the third time I’ve read this book. I absolutely love it. It’s gripping and lively, with a lot of action tempered by discussions of honor (of course), soldiering, deception, mental illness, and the senseless deaths of wartime. The bad guys are really pretty bad and the good guys are fabulous. 

After two books with the main characters of Cordelia Naismith and Aral Vorkosigan, this and Barrayar, the story moves eighteen years in the future where their son Miles is the main character and his parents have become bit players. I love both Cordelia and Aral, and I wish there had been more books written about them. Miles is a lot of fun, but he’s an agent of chaos - he moves from one disaster to another - and it’s exciting but tiring. There’s lots of chaos here, too, but … um …. maybe more controlled? I’m not sure how to describe it. 

In any case, this is probably my favorite sci-fi series of all. 
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xvicesx's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

Quite surprised by how much I liked this one, seeing how mixed the reviews were. Aral and Cordelia were very enjoyable lead characters, each wise beyond their years, caught up in entirely unwanted subterfuge and conspiracy. Seeing them come together was a joy. 
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antropomorficzny's review against another edition

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

3.75

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davidsonrachel6's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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galaxywitch's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

3.25

Overall I enjoyed this book. It was a fun read, and has humor throughout that is funny without being over the top or feeling forced. Even though I did enjoy this book, there are some things about it I didn’t enjoy very much which made me rate this as a 3 instead of a higher rating. 

This was published ~40 years ago and in some ways it does feel dated. The biggest issue I had while reading is that there were a lot more references to (and/or threats of) rape than I was expecting. To me it feels like this is included so frequently because rape is what Bad Guys do, which is not something I enjoy reading. Also, because the writing style is on the more lighthearted and humorous side, serious topics (ex. Rape, murder, war, etc) were handled in a way that felt casual, dismissive, or humorous at times, which felt weird. I think most of this is just that it was written in a different time so I am not holding these flaws against it too harshly - but it is something to note if this will be a problem for you.

That being said, if you can look past these complaints, I did find it enjoyable. It was not especially deep, and was not very focused on the sci-fi elements, but it was fun. The main characters felt somewhat flat but were likable.
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afuzzybird's review against another edition

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3.0

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kbhenrickson's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

4.0

After finishing all of the books in her World of the Five Gods series, I've decided to give this science fiction series by Lois McMaster Bujold a try. Her writing is so wonderful and adds an extra dimension of enjoyment to each book I have read by her. This particular story was quite intense at times, which is a bit tricky for me with an audiobook because you can't casually glance ahead to check on the outcome if you need reassurance. I should have trusted that Bujold wouldn't cross the line (for me - I'm sure some other readers feel differently). If you are someone who avoids certain content,
there is a very intense almost rape scene, and, for me, at least, an even more distressing part where the main character is treated very poorly by mental health professionals and almost involuntarily committed to an institution for continuation of same
. I LOVED Cordelia - give me a smart, adult woman protagonist who can take care of herself any day. I also enjoyed the small details added to the story that gave it realism and sometimes humor - like how all of the Betans, when discussing their president, claim, "I didn't vote for him." I was a little confused by the Aftermaths section, though, so if anyone can shed light on that, I'd love to hear it. Grover Gardner does an excellent job with the narration, and it was a delight to hear his voice again after recently finishing the Penric and Desdemona series (which he also narrates). I am already getting started on the next book.
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violinknitter's review against another edition

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

3.5

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