Reviews tagging 'Death'

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

41 reviews

therobinjoyce's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

A great continuation to the Graceling series by Kristin Cashore. I’ll admit, it was a lot harder to get into than Graceling but not as much so as Fire.

It was fantastic to be reunited with Bitterblue, Po, Katsa, Giddon, Raffin, Helda, and to also get a glimpse into some of the characters we got to know throughout Fire once more.

It was a fantastic YA fantasy and this one was filled with far more political intrigue and court politics but it was amazingly done and we still had a harrowing and gritty adventure through this fantasy realm once more. 

Bitterblue’s character has matured so much as have some of the others, but it was wonderful to follow her as an adolescent making her mark on her world and trying to rule. The whole cast of new characters that were introduced were also great and I loved so many of them. 

Just a fantastic follow up to the series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Torture, Gaslighting, Blood, Self harm, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Suicide, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Sexual violence, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, and Pedophilia

Minor: Kidnapping

elle_dee's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, and War

strange's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I never thought my love for a book could grow so much on re-read— a great start to the year and one I hope will be reflected throughout. (May be 5 stars but I want to let it sit a while before deciding)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, and Suicide

Moderate: Torture, Self harm, Rape, and Pedophilia

nyssbomb's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious sad tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Violence, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Death, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Incest, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Torture

etosaurus's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Self harm, and Murder

Moderate: Medical trauma, Vomit, and Pedophilia

amselot's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Death, Violence, Suicide, Self harm, Mental illness, Grief, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Medical content, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

Minor: Rape, Homophobia, and Kidnapping

There is hardly a content warning that doesn't come with this book... Don't read this if you are in a bad place, and I'd also recommend people suffering from anxiety take care while reading this. It triggered several anxiety attacks for me while reading and I was high strung and rattled all the way through. The ending does however tie everything up in a way that is calming and satisfying.

jella's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Habe nicht erwarte, dass mich die Geschichte so packen wird. Mein liebster Band der Reihe. Auch der (psychisch) brutalste.

Wie in den Vorgängern endet auch diese Geschichte gut, jedoch muss der Hauptcharakter auf etwas verzichten. In Band 1 war es das Augenlicht von Katsas Gefährten, in Band 2 waren es zwei Finger von Fire und hier ist es die Liebe von Bitterblue. Saf stirbt zwar nicht, geht jedoch fort, obwohl sie einander lieben und obwohl er bleiben könnte. Autsch.

Auch wenn das Ende dem nach nicht 100% zufriedenstellend war, würde ich dafür nichts abziehen. Ich finde die Entscheidung der Autorin eigentlich mutig. In der Mitte der Geschichte wäre es unnötiges Drama, aber hier am Ende wandelt es sich eher zu Realismus.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Moderate: Violence, Animal cruelty, and Torture

Minor: Animal death, Sexual assault, Rape, Child abuse, Child death, and Self harm

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Like Fire, this is a fairly slow moving book. While it picks up in plot towards the end, the way it's written still feels slow. However, this fits the nature of the story. Bitterblue is trying to pick up the mess her father made, and many are afraid of confronting the past. Therefore, her journey to the truth is a long, winding one.

While you can read this book without reading the previous two (I think), there's nuggets of backstory you'll miss. This book really draws all 3 together. I loved being able to see Bitterblue's journey play out, and I was honestly hooked until the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Self harm

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, and Alcoholism

Minor: Kidnapping

kettijane55's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Death, Suicide, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, and Vomit

annaluzia's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Loved it! Will write more when I'm getting home, but I don't have my laptop with me right now ...
*edit 10.04.2021:
I have no idea how to rate this book, to be honest. Plotwise and in terms of being an adventure and entertaining it falls flat compared to Fire and Graceling, but the character work is brilliant and I love love love the way she looks at a kingdom that had just suffered from tyranny, memory loss and no clue as to what the truth is. After studying the dictatorships in Latin America I feel like there are so many things I can now understand way better. The search for truth, for the disappeared, not knowing how to look forward, the power of art. 
I think that this book is really impactful in a lot of ways, but it won't be for anyone. Also love the bits of self-reflection of the author in her notes and acknowledgements, it shows growth and I really respect her for that, and her writing. 
Be aware of trigger warnings though, this is not an easy book! (not AS bad as I'm putting them, but it's primarily about the characters working through their traumas) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism