Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley

9 reviews

cleot's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Violence

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Self harm, Slavery, Animal death, Torture, Death, and War

maeverose's review against another edition

4.0

This would be a solid 5 stars if it weren’t for one  thing that rubbed me the wrong way…

That  being the way Kite murdered Frank and everyone just kinda forgot about it. Like that made him irredeemable to me. I would’ve loved the whole romance plot line and been totally happy with the ending if it weren’t for that one thing. If the author is autistic I’d be willing to look past it, even though I still think it was an odd choice, but if she’s allistic that gives me the ick. The way he was physically restrained, slapped and literally murdered while having a meltdown? Just to keep Joe from remembering who he was. That is not justified on Kite’s part. At all. And Joe just seemingly forgets about it after a while??

I also didn’t love some of the ways the author described Kite’s scarring and Clay’s disfigurement and ‘childlike’ behavior from his trauma. It could just be Joe’s/Kite’s thoughts not the author’s, but it bothered me a bit. It wasn’t horrible though.

Otherwise I really liked this book. I heard someone suggest it as a book similar to The Binding (which I also liked until I found out the author was a terf), and this definitely has a similar feel to The Binding, though a pretty different plot. I knew very little going in and I think that’s the best way to read it. Despite how mostly negative this review is I would recommend this if the synopsis sounds intriguing. Just check content warnings!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Torture, War, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Body shaming, Misogyny, Rape, Child abuse, Gore, Medical content, and Sexual content

Minor: Racism, Ableism, and Fatphobia

graphic: Amnesia, Intrusive Thoughts, minor: Eugenics

lizzie24601's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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

4.5

God, Natasha Pulley knows how to tell a story!!!!!! She uses the same trope in all of her books and I gobble it up every time! And as a fan of stories set on ships in the early 19th century, this hit the spot. I would read a whole series about Joe and Kite. I felt out of breath reading this because I was so excited to get to the next chapter. Ugh!! Incredible character building and a suspenseful relationship and plot. 

Half a star taken off only because the opening is so slow - until you get to part 3 and it takes OFF. If you haven't read a Natasha Pulley book before, read The Watchmaker of Filigree Street or The Bedlam Stacks before this one - they both are better introductions to her writing style since they start off a bit quicker and are written more chronologically. Then come back and enjoy this one. :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting and War

Moderate: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Murder, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Slavery

Minor: Death of parent, Self harm, Genocide, Sexism, Alcohol, and Blood

augustar14's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Blood, Colonisation, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Murder, War, Grief, Slavery, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Misogyny, Death of parent, Racism, and Sexism

cameronreads's review against another edition

4.0

I really enjoyed this book. I think the concept is so interesting and gripping, and I was fully invested the whole time either trying to figure out what on earth was going on or whether my theories were right. I think it was predictable in a way that felt like everything satisfyingly coming into place, with revelations slowly dawning on me allowing for the perfect confirming reveal. I think the characters were compelling and well written, and the book seemed very well research (not that I know anything about history). 

Two half stars were taken off for me - one because the way that time travel was written, although the right way to make the story work, is the one way I hate for time travel to be written. I love it when time travel is more along the lines of what David Lewis theorised as possible, rather than time travellers having the ability to change the future from the past etc. Still, it made for the right kind of story, so only half a star off for that. A second half star off because I wanted just a bit more feeling out of the characters. I think the emotions they were feeling here were so big that they needed a bit more description or emphasis. I wanted to feel the emotions with the characters, and I just didn't really. Mostly I wanted to see more passion out of the main relationship in here, I think just a little more development could have really added to the impact. 

Still, I loved this so much more than I expected to, and I would 100% recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Violence, War, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, and Gore

Moderate: Misogyny, Self harm, Gun violence, Cursing, Colonisation, and Grief

Minor: Suicide, Alcohol, Torture, and Vomit

cmaples's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Slavery, War, and Murder

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Sexual assault

spacebornfew's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

There's something about Natasha Pulley's books that just breaks me every time. They contain these moments that elicit this indescribable feeling of safety and warmth and belonging that curls up in my gut and sits there for days afterwards. Those moments intersperse with heartbreak and remorse and questions about what makes us who we are... I'm going to have a hell of a hangover from this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, War, Violence, Animal death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Slavery, Gun violence, Suicide, Torture, and Blood

Minor: Xenophobia

lilifane's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-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

I'm not okay. I just couldn't stop crying for an hour straight while finishing the last 50 pages of the book. Had to take my glasses off because they were filling up with tears.

I did not expect this tbh. I couldn't remember how this book ended up on my TBR pile, and the only thing I did remember was that there was time travel involved in the plot. This is usually enough for me to be interested. But I was skeptical when I started reading because I didn't know what to think about the beginning. But when things stated.... moving, I fell in love with the setting and the atmosphere and the writing, and then I got attached to the characters and that was kind of too much for my poor little heart. It was shattering to pieces every few pages, and I was having one emotional breakdown after the other. And even though I guessed a lot of the mysteries early on, it made everything even more emotional. Plus, the ending kept me on my toes until the very last page, and this is something that doesn't happen often.

Be warned, though, this book is gruesome. It takes place during a war and all the horrors you can think of will be described in details. It was hard to read sometimes, but it made everything very believable and kept the stakes pretty high. (I like to pretend that one scene especially didn't happen, though. It was not the most bloody scene but a very much unnecessary one in my opinion.)

I will have to reread the book at some point knowing what I know now and also note down all those beautifully heartbreaking quotes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Suicide, Violence, and War

rebeccarudisill's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

This is not the kind of book I normally would give 5 stars. There’s a lot of things in here that I don’t usually enjoy - violence, suspense, danger to children. But it was just so compelling. I had to know what happened next! The plot was complex and surprising and somehow uplifting and funny despite all the horrible things happening. Screw your courage to the sticking place, and read this book!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Slavery, Violence, and War

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

This book is an incredibly tough read. Their are VIVID descriptions of war and the carnage that ensues. I had to take it very slowly. Be warned!