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149 reviews for:
The Black Jewels Trilogy: Daughter of the Blood, Heir to the Shadows, Queen of the Darkness
Anne Bishop
4.2 AVERAGE
149 reviews for:
The Black Jewels Trilogy: Daughter of the Blood, Heir to the Shadows, Queen of the Darkness
Anne Bishop
4.2 AVERAGE
The Black Jewels Trilogy is at times highly imaginative and at times rather frustrating. Case in point: the best insults thousand year old magical beings can come up with are variations of "b****"? In addition, though there are many characters, they all seem to fit into one of maybe four archetypes. There also seems to be a complementarity type view of gender roles, which kind of irks me, but is mitigated in some ways.
Overall, this series is entertaining, if not the most groundbreaking.
Overall, this series is entertaining, if not the most groundbreaking.
I am putting this on my loved shelf because wee Somaya did love it I WILL NOT HEAR YOUR JUDGEMENT.
Anne Bishop never fails to write a story that grabs me right way and does not let me go until the very last page. The Black Jewels series is definitely my favorite of all her books. All of the books set in this world have intriguing story lines and characters who fascinate me. Even the characters I loathe are still well written. Any book by Anne Bishop is a must read and this series is no exception.
This trilogy in one edition held my attention during a summer break. I was quite drawn in to the characters and the world they lived in.
For some reason, when I read this series, I hated it. But I think that that had to do with the fact that I was still a teenager when I read the books. Now that I'm older, I absolutely love the books. I think a certain maturity is needed to fully appreciate the series. And by maturity, I mean emotional maturity.
I love the whole BlackJeweled Serie, it's the one that opened me to dark fantasy and I reread it regularly !!!
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual violence
So, I took a break from my steady diet of romance novels to read some high fantasy. The result? One gigantic hot mess of a reading experience.
On the one hand, you have gratuitous violence, rape, incest, pedophilia, and torture. On the other hand, you have a precocious young girl who is super extra special, enthralls everyone around with her specialness, and makes friends with talking animals. Also, magical cock rings (I did NOT make that up, I swear). Also also, a very poor sense of narrative direction and consistency.
I honestly feel like the first book has scarred me for life. Such trauma.
On the one hand, you have gratuitous violence, rape, incest, pedophilia, and torture. On the other hand, you have a precocious young girl who is super extra special, enthralls everyone around with her specialness, and makes friends with talking animals. Also, magical cock rings (I did NOT make that up, I swear). Also also, a very poor sense of narrative direction and consistency.
I honestly feel like the first book has scarred me for life. Such trauma.
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I enjoyed the magic system and some of the overall themes/concepts were really intriguing to me. Unfortunately, I didn't find the characters interesting and I could care less about the plot. The trauma that some of the women characters experienced seemed to only arise to push the development of the men, thrown in there to make the men look good and let them 'heal' the women. I also found some of the inherent 'roles' the characters played (men are always aggressive and protective and dominate, women are more delicate even though they are magically more powerful then the men and need a dominate and defensive man to help them rule) really grating as well. This was a struggle to read through. It really was.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping
Minor: Incest
Addictive like crack. Probably about as good for you, if the gender politics were applied to the real world, but since they aren't, a nice guilty pleasure read.