Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

Sisters of Sword and Shadow by Laura Bates

8 reviews

nolanlucy's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny inspiring 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? It's complicated

3.75

A nice little book! I love an ensemble (Sigrid ily) and lesbians, some of the 'surprises' were devastating and I felt like I couldn't settle into a tone? It reads at times like a book suitable for an 11 year old (which is not boring just nice) and then there is extreme violence. Maybe that's the point? You have to do hard stuff, you have to make decisions, you have to act, but it was a bit jarring. (As well as some of the action description, eg detailing things Cass couldn't've seen.) But overall very enjoyable and fun!
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soph22's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense slow-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

3.75

I thought I’d love this book more; on paper it’s right up my street, but unfortunately I was left feeling pretty meh. As a feminist lose-retelling of King Arthur, it almost hits, but the pacing is off for me. Listening to it as an audiobook, it was a good 5 hours before I felt the story really got going - I almost gave up.
But the worst part for me was the love interest. In a book where practically all men are bad (I get that this was an intentional choice, so no problems there), this guy did literally the bare minimum and was worthy of romance! I don’t get that.
I’ll probably read the next one, but only because it’s available at the library.
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bookish_hollyx's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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eli_sa's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

This YA books about girls being knights in secret because of misogyny and it ended up being a great story about girlhood. If I was in my teenage years it would have definitely reshaped my brain chemistry.
This book felt very much like a really long prequel but still very much needed and enjoyable.
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nutmegandselkie's review against another edition

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adventurous dark inspiring mysterious 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

3.75

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kiwianakilljoy's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative lighthearted medium-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

3.75

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roddenea's review against another edition

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

3.75

This was a fun read, however not one I would describe as a strong story.
Spoilers ahead


There were breadcrumbs leading to the reveal of the prophecy near the end of the book. But despite the prophecy coming out at the end, I feel like I know more about it or about Lily than I do about Cass herself. Her character was spurred mostly by her place and her decision to stay with the sisterhood, and her missing of her family. There was her fighting light, and then that's mostly it? I can't recall what made her happy other than her sister or Lily. It feels like she's half a character.

That said, I liked Lily enough to overlook that, and I hope to see Sigrid again. I will be interested to read the next book and hope to see Cass fleshed out more as they figure out what the ruby hilted sword means, and the stag. 
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emmsbookshelf's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring 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? Yes

3.75

Sister of Sword and Shadow is an immersive feminine reimagining of Arthuninan Legends, where our protagonist Cass is whisked away from village life where her future would doubtlessly lead to marriage and monotony by a mysterious warrior woman and led into adventure.  Props to the front cover, the art is stunning and it really hyped me up to read this! 
 
From the very beginning I was struck at how descriptive the writing was, I could imagine being in the forest, the movement of the horses, the whistling of arrows in the air.  The battle scenes in particular were vivid and immersive, really beautifully crafted. 
 
There were times where I felt the pacing was a bit off, just a bit, slow.  I felt for the first half of the novel, there was nothing overarching to drive the story and that there were snippets of plot amongst a lot of descriptive prose and world building.  I found the pace increased in the last third and I enjoyed myself thoroughly 
 
Thank you to NetGalley, and the publisher Simon & Schuster (Australia), for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review, these thoughts are all my own.
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