Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Prey of Gods by Nicky Drayden

13 reviews

monicadee88's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted fast-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

Incredible debut novel! It's a genre-bending rollercoaster of an adventure that starts off fast and never slows down. The varied characters are dynamic, each flawed in their own way and yet sympathetic and redeemable. Drayden created a fantastical futuristic world, but I wish there was deeper world-building and an overall longer story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Torture, and Violence

sup3r_xn0va_maya's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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

4.0

I really enjoyed this book, it was a lot of fun and I was honestly excited to get through this story to find out what happened in the end. I loved all the characters other than Muzi's friend, Mr. Tau, and Sydney. I really love how chaotic the story was but it was perfect because it still made sense and what was happening was very clear. The blend of fantasy, sci-fi, and mythology was just a breath of fresh air, honestly. 

I will be taking a star off because a character repeatedly misgendered a trans woman at the end of the story and because

Mr. Tau is a child rapist and had the nerve to cry about feeling "guilty". Bro, end yourself, no one cares about your tears. I also hated that Numvula's mother slut shammed/victim shammed and humiliated her in front of the damned town. The mother paid for it promptly afterwards and so did 2,600 people, if I read correctly.

One last issue I had with the story is that the ending felt really rushed, I would have liked a bit more of the story towards the end. 

All in all I really enjoyed this story, it was so fun and exciting to read. 

I'm giving this 4 out of 5 stars!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, Body horror, Child death, Death, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Rape, Animal death, Gore, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Drug use, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Pedophilia, Cursing, Drug abuse, and Police brutality

thatwasmyfavorite's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Violence, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief

Moderate: Kidnapping, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Deadnaming, Transphobia, Rape, Death of parent, Mental illness, and Dysphoria

disco_sophia's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

4.0

This book was very good, even though I feel it stumbled a bit across the finish line. The characters are all interesting and flawed, but relatable and likeable. The story is tense and surprisingly dark at times. The magic system, godlike powers what have you, are a little all over the place but it never gets too extreme, and they're explained well enough without going too far into it to be confusing. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a little darker sci-fi featuring a mishmash assortment of characters struggling to do what they think is right.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Rape, and Self harm

Moderate: Violence and Death

Minor: Transphobia

emzhay's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Body horror, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Murder, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Deadnaming and Kidnapping

Minor: Rape

a mass death event taking place at a concert

dealingwithdragons'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Incest, Murder, Sexual assault, and Violence

tascaraudo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious fast-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

5.0

What a wonderful world Drayden has given us. I loved the characterization of the robots. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Murder, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Violence, and Rape

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Transphobia

wardenred's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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... honestly have no idea what my impression of this book even is. On one hand, it was a reasonably quick and mostly enjoyable read for me, mostly because there wasn't a single character who wasn't interesting to follow. On the other hand, there was just too much going on, which paradoxically led to a distinct feeling of "not enough." With the story constantly jumping between viewpoints, and big events, and various aspects of the setting, every individual storyline remained underexplored. Things kind of got tied together, somewhat, toward the end, but it still felt a lot like I was reading a bunch of different books at once. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Deadnaming, Drug use, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Rape, Medical trauma, Child abuse, and Chronic illness

laguerrelewis's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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

4.25

This book is so creative and such a fun read. A strange ragtag cast of rotating perspectives in an engaging, fantastical world that blends Afrofuturism with demigods and magic. I will say there are some odd elements, like a character who is deadnamed for a large part of the book (although this was part of their journey of coming out), and a one minor character was introduced as a r*pist, but I do think that at the end of the day this was worth the read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Chronic illness, Deadnaming, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, and Vomit

caseythereader's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny tense 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

4.0

 - Well, if this isn't one of the weirdest books I've ever read in my life! Drayden has a dozen ideas here that would all be excellent novels and she's crammed them all into one wild ride.
- I've seen some reviews complain about the number of narrators, but I really enjoyed the many points of view. Given how much was going on, it felt like I was seeing many sides of the action.
- One big thing that dragged this down for me was the implication that the disabled character couldn't fully access her joy and artistic talent unless she was actively in pain. I understand how that concept integrated with the overall plot, but it felt icky at times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fatphobia, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, and Vomit