Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Bronzed Beasts by Roshani Chokshi

22 reviews

kaylamoran's review

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dark emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

That ending... I can't decide if I loved it or hated it.  But this was a great end to the series, which I loved from start to finish.

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silver_lining_in_a_book's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


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alexiab's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny hopeful fast-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

5.0

ITS COOL IM FINE IM TOTALLY COOL AND FINE

god damn I don't think the end of a series has torn my heart up like that in a good while. It was epic, exciting, surprising, and exactly what it should have been. 

I love this entire adventure, my heart is forever with this beautiful and funny as hell found family, and I don't know how to cope with it being over. THE EPILOGUE WILL HAUNT MY DREAMS FOR ALWAYS.

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thebakerbookworm's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

3.0

I didn’t quite get the satisfaction I wanted from this conclusion: a lot of the plotting felt like the first two books—same problems, same tensions, same issues—and I remain confused by aspects of this world. The world-building just never really made sense to me, and I was really hoping everything would click together in my head by this book, but nope. What exactly is forging? Couldn't tell you.
How did it get undone at the end? I have no idea.
Honestly, I felt more confused with each book, and the plot seemed to get worse with each one too.

The ending also left much to be desired, especially because the characters were so interesting. They deserved a more powerful conclusion. I think Enrique and Zofia are my favorite characters because they had the most consistent arcs across the trilogy (
though I knew Zofia was gonna lose that letter and it annoyed the heck out of me that she didn't open it in the second book...felt like it was more for tension than what she truly would have done
) and they also had the most satisfying ending. I remain annoyed by Séverin's development and I became annoyed with all of what happened with Laila in this book.
Seriously, Séverin's quest to become a god never made sense and it did not get the resolution that it needed for it to have impact on the character...like he still went through with it? even though everyone agreed it was a bad idea? and his only consequence was that he got eternal youth? but had to wait a century before he could see Laila again? because she became a god instead? And we still don't know anything more about Laila's creation and how it happened and why her gift works or how she became L'Enigme. The stakes about Laila dying in this book never felt as urgent as they kept saying it was.
I liked Laila and Séverin together but their relationship is never really fleshed out over the trilogy so I don't know why they like each other.

All that being said, I’m still glad I read the series. I mean, I decided to still give this conclusion three stars, even though I had issues with it. I think the characters are intriguing enough to still read it, and Hypnos's humor in this book made for some good chuckles. Overall, the series had a lot of potential and great characters so I wouldn’t not recommend it…but being disappointed in the ending makes it hard to wholeheartedly recommend.

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karambit's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

4.25


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decklededgess's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious tense 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

3.0

trigger warnings: violence, physical injury, blackmail, terminal illness, gore, death, mental illness, antisemitism

I loved this series when I read the first book but this third one was a bit of a let down compared to the other two. Even so, it's a great wrap up to this trilogy and I don't see how else Roshani Chokshi could have concluded the series without pisses off the readers.

Roshani Chokshi's writing has improved fantastically over her past few books so this was a solid piece of writing. The heist was action packed, the descriptive language was vivid but not overdoing the purple prose. I love the cast of characters, the found family dynamic, the reconnections and new friendships built, the strong character growth and more.

I did feel like some of the characters got off a little too easy for some of the out of line shit they pulled in all three books but these characters are clearly beloved to Roshani so I didn't really predict her putting them through more trauma than they've already been through.

A solid conclusion!

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starlessnights's review against another edition

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2.0


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moonytoast's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

i am in tears……. roshani chokshi pls take my money take my life’s savings take everything i own

i cannot even begin to explain how much i have fallen in love with this story, these characters, the worldbuilding???? ALL IMMACULATE!

brb going to go yell at my friends to read these books

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vaniavela's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

This series started with a simple heist story and ended with the world about to be destroyed (or reigned over, if you were lucky) by one of the characters.  

The Bronzed Beasts is the last book in the trilogy written by Roshani Chokshi, The Gilded Wolves.

I would like to start by saying that this book had already been read and reviewed two months ago, but for some reason my review was deleted and I wanted to redo it. 

Every book in this series mesmerizes me. The cover of The Bronzed Beasts has a divine color palette, the combination of reds and golds gives a magical touch and the combination of all the elements fascinated me.

Even before I read the book I knew I would end up emotionally destroyed, and I was. The development the characters had throughout the story was well written and I liked how their personalities were deepened in consideration of their traumas in a respectful way. 

I found the relationships between the several characters, main or secondary, to be quite interesting. Without making spoilers, the tension, thirst for revenge and betrayals made this book even better.Of course, the sarcastic and romantic elements were not lacking and while I wasn't on the edge of my seat, a smile appeared on my face. 

I continued to find the world building fascinating. The archaeological and magical elements, along with the detailed descriptions, brought this book to life. Recall that it takes place in 1890 in Venice, Italy, but it's set in a world of magic. Themes such as power, ambition, colonialism (a bit), second chances and more were also addressed which gave depth to the story. 

There are still several trigger warnings such as ableism, alcohol, grief, blood, murder, racism, self-harm, suicide, violence, etc. Likewise, I still love the respectful and diverse way this book was written. Three of the main characters are diverse culturally, and one character is on the autism spectrum, one is bisexual, and one is gay. 

Now, the ending. What the fuck was that ending? 'Crying and vomiting' literally defines my reaction to reading the ending. I didn't expect that ending, and therefore didn't want it, I keep believing that authors will give happy endings and I must learn that the books I read are never going to have them because I'm a masochist. I cried just as terribly as I did with Rule of Wolves, Our Violent Ends, and other books I recommend.

It was certainly a wonderful (and painful) journey but I thank the universe for introducing me to this series. 5/5 ⭐️

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maryjames's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5


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