Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

35 reviews

unremi's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Actually a pretty enjoyable read! It was a bit longer than what I usually read and the plot twist was “interesting.” Even though it was a long book, the world building was really well done. An excellent fantasy choice! Clary is kinda dumb and the book leaves a cliffhanger because it’s a series, but that’s really my only critiques.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, and Death of parent

Minor: Incest, Medical content, and Kidnapping

readers_hideaway1's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Realize this is a series and unlike a lot if series their is a lot that I don't understand after book one so I will need to read the rest .

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Murder, Domestic abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, Medical content, Torture, Toxic friendship, Incest, Confinement, Self harm, Child abuse, Death, War, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Violence

emilywemily6's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? No

3.5

Holy plot twists Batman. The last 50-100 pages were crazy full of twists and turns. Lots of betrayal, misrepresentations of the past, etc. Overall, this book felt a little more YA than I typically like. Clary is clearly 15 and while the shadowhunter teens are older it is not by much. Some of the things they said or did were stupid honestly, but not overly so (it was only sometimes). I like these characters, they are very distinct and I’m looking forward to seeing where this goes. Though with a title like City of Bones I would have thought that this book would spend more than 2 chapters in the actual City of Bones. Clary was kind of dense when it came to catching on to the plot twists too lol. This book is a bit shallow in terms of world building, etc. but I’m hoping I get more throughout the books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Blood, Grief, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, and Gore

Moderate: Child abuse, Racism, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Homophobia, Incest, and Sexual content

ashe01's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.25

I’m not quite sure how I went so long before starting this series, because this book was great! This is such a captivating story, and the numerous plot twists throughout were actually insane! I had problems at times keeping up, because it felt like the world building was so large that it’s a lot to retain and figure out story-wise. I found myself at times getting confused with all the names being mentioned and the different types of beings. The transition from chapter 20 to chapter 21 (and the entirety of that background story chapter) was INCREDIBLE, probably my favorite part of the whole book! I thought it was a very unique take to share such vital information to the story, and it was done beautifully!!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Grief, Abandonment, and Child death

Minor: Incest and War

minzzi's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

  I read this book for the first time when I was thirteen, it was the book that turned me into a reader. 
  I love the characters, the settings, the whole world behind the narrative. It just makes me smile rereading this book and remembering the happiness this universe brings to me.
  However, as an adult with critical thinking skills, I can't look past the flaws in the story anymore.
  The dialogue is extremely exposition heavy (specially in the first third of the book), the whole thing with Simon turning into a rat was completely unnecessary to the plot, and above all, the main character, Clary, suffers from a serious case of "not like other girls" syndrome. Seriously, it's bad.
  But, even so, this story is so filled with nostalgia that I could never give any books in this series a bad star rating.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Misogyny

rafacolog's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racism, Kidnapping, Blood, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, Torture, and Child abuse

oystersauce's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Incest

Moderate: Kidnapping and Child abuse

kal517's review against another edition

adventurous 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Death of parent, Incest, Blood, and Kidnapping

Minor: Child abuse and Injury/Injury detail

singalana's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

2.75

I wonder if I'm getting too old for these kinds of books. But despite its flaws, I kind of enjoyed it anyway. 

The main character, Clary, gives off a “not like the other girls”-vibe and seems hostile towards other girls in this book. 

What I liked: The banter was pretty good at places. The audiobook had a good narrator, but at times, she sounded very posh. 

What I didn't like: The author has a case of thesaurus madness, sometimes, the word choices don't quite fit the context, in my opinion. Also, she likes adverbs very much. And the word ‘hard’ (e.g. “She hit the ground, HARD.”)... And there were a few throwaway comments that were quite insensitive. 

About the ending… 

Spoilers! 

Oh boy, the ending knocked the rating down. First of all, I didn't understand the scene where Valentine came to retrieve the cup. How did she not see Clary, or did I miss something? And there was so much explaining, and the ending seemed to drag on forever. Also, I didn't like the way Jace behaved in the end, it didn't feel believable. I listened to this as an audiobook, and finally, when I heard the word “epilogue” and I checked the time, I noticed the epilogue was AN HOUR long! That's not an epilogue, that's 10 % of the book! (It turned out that there's a bonus chapter of one of the author’s other books. But still, the epilogue was like 30 minutes long.) 

 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Child death, Death, Fatphobia, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Blood, Violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Car accident, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, and Transphobia

annikenr's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Murder, and Death of parent

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Kidnapping, Animal cruelty, Violence, and Animal death