Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

La guaritrice di Zalindov by Lynette Noni

160 reviews

sarahjacobs1122's review against another edition

emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This book was a great read. I saw one of the three big reveals coming, but I was surprised by the other two. I thought the middle was a little slow, which is why I lowered my rating by .5. I liked how the author developed the characters in the book. I thought the idea of the trials was interesting, but a little tedious. I think that this is a book for older YA due to some content. Overall, I am itching to get to the rest of the series to see how the big end reveal develops. I would recommend it to those interested, but check trigger warnings for those who think they may need it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Child abuse and Child death

prolinn's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Blood

izzy_mckeough's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-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

3.5

Written by Lynette Noni, one of my favourite fantasy authors, I had very high expectations for this book. I have to say, I was slightly disappointed by the lack of compelling plot and very slow pace. However, the book did have good characters who were believable and 3-dimensional (my favourite being Naari). The last few pages also revealed some huge plot twists which confused me at the time, but thinking back on it there was some (very subtle) foreshadowing. Overall, in my opinion one of Noni's weakest books but I'll persevere through to the second novel and hope it can add some more interesting plot to a fairly well-developed setting with good characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Self harm, Sexism, Medical content, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

kisachan820's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

sarahsbookss's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

chamaeleontis's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This book was great. It had so many amazing, and natural plot twists. I only guessed 1 of them, and part of 2 others. Nothing was set up that wasn't followed through on. The characters are all 3D, and morally realistic, which I personally really enjoyed. That's not even to mention the writing. Lynette Noni's style is spectacular. It flows so naturally, and is very enjoyable.

The one nit-picky thing was a plot point I personally didn't like, which is why it's 4.75, rather than 5.

It bothered me that we never got to know Tilda despite her being right there. I would have had a problem with it regardless of her being Kiva's mom, but that made it more frustrating. In the same vein, I get why it was done, but I feel that there could have at least been one full sentence exchanged

I would highly recommend this book for anyone who loves fantasy but is sick of repetitive plots. There's a few common tropes, but they are well done, with unique takes. I'm really looking forward to the next book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

corabookworm's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

- pretty fast paced, lots of action/conflict 
- didn’t require much thought or mind energy to read
- plot was interesting enough
- characters and romance was eh, didn’t feel super connected to them but reading it wasn’t torture 
- VERY predictable plot twists

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement

Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicide

smedette's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

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

4.5

This is a great YA fantasy book that isn't heavy on the fantasy, which I appreciated. It is a solid story, but with royal magical bloodlines lurking in the background. I have a feeling said magic will come into focus as the series continues.

Kiva Meridan is 17 years old and has spent the last decade in Zalindov, the notorious prison of Wenderall Kingdoms. She is the prison's healer, taking up the position after her father's death just a year after their arrival in Zalindov as traitors to the crown. Part of her duties is to assess each new prisoner and carve the letter Z into their hand, to mark them for life.

Then the Rebel Queen is captured and is delivered to Zalindov. She is in no condition to face her Trial by Ordeal, a series of "elemental" challenges (air, fire, water, and earth) and Kiva surprises everyone by agreeing to stand in the Rebel Queen's place. 

While Kiva prepares for each challenge, she must also care for onslaught of patients as a mysterious illness begins spreading through the prison. She has very few allies as Kiva has learned to be protective of herself and her feelings, but she must learn to trust people if she is to learn the origin of the illness and survive the Ordeals.

There were a few predictable twists, but just because I knew where something was going didn't mean I didn't enjoy the ride. This book is fast paced and well-written. That last twist (literally the last page) was excellent and is setting up the readers for quite the showdown in the next installment.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Addiction, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence

Minor: Child abuse and Death of parent

grets_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Well damn!! That was an emotional roller-coaster. But a good one! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Addiction and Self harm

As the name suggests, set in a prison

cursedcheez's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

• amazing twist (IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE!!!)
• very very descriptive, sometimes sounding a bit pretentious/fake deep

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Drug abuse, Self harm, and Suicide attempt