Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Witch King by Martha Wells

24 reviews

ezwolf's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

The Murderbot Diaries is one of my favorite series and I will admit to loving fantasy just a bit more than sci-fi so when I found out about this book I was incredibly excited! 

I really loved all of the characters. The way that Kai and Ziede just immediately adopt both Sanja and Tenes was fantastic. Sanja is exactly the kind of child I think is so entertaining to be taken in by the main character and the dynamic betwen her and Kai and Ziede was so funny. 

Of course this book was even better for its inclusion of queer relationships and the way that gender and names are used. This book takes advantage of its own world building by releasing characters from a strict gender binary which I think is something a lot of fantasy suffers from not doing. Saredi + demon culture was so interesting and I would have loved to learn even more. 

Thank you to NetGalley for making this available in exchange for an honest review! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Body horror, Death, Self harm, and Violence

Moderate: Cursing

Minor: Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Dysphoria, and Colonisation

kat_impossible's review against another edition

3.25

 

*I was provided with an eARC by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!*

I, like many others, am a fan of Martha Wells because of her wildly popular novella-series the Murderbot Diaries. She always manages to create multi-faceted characters within a rich world-setting that you just want to know more about, so I was really excited to check out her latest Fantasy release - Witch King.

The book started out with such a BANG! There was action, the promise of intricate relationships and a hint at betrayal in the past. I was ready to jump in, but the longer the story went on, the less I found myself invested in the plot. To me, it felt like we were introduced to Game of Thrones-level political scheming, but without the necessary time to really get acquainted to the world and understand the mechanics and connections. Granted, there is a list of notable characters provided at the very beginning of the book, but I still struggled a bit with distinguishing the territories and abilities/power people held.

Told in the Past and the Present, I appreciated the many parallels that could be drawn between current events and what had already transpired. Sometimes certain chapter endings were meant to lead you astray and make you doubt characters, which I thought was a fun element of the dual timeline, but it didn't always work out perfectly. Certain reveals just didn't hit right, because we e.g. already knew what someone was capable of in the present.
Also, the final reveal was just not shocking or as satisfying as I would have hoped with the build up. The "betrayal" had been built up the entire time, just to not feel as weighty and personal as I had expected.

What I will absolutely give credit to is the found family aspect of the story and the lovable characters. I almost wished we just got more scenes of them hanging out and interacting rather than chases around the world in search of items and people alike. They had such fun dynamics and I would have loved to see even more of the initial "getting to know"-stages of their relationships. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Body shaming, Xenophobia, War, and Body horror

maryellen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

This hurts me to say, but... I didn't like this one. I found it confusing,  and the characters lacked depth. I didn't understand who the factions were, why they were fighting, and why I should care. It was a disappointment, considering how much I love her other books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Child abuse, Death, Body horror, Genocide, Murder, Physical abuse, Confinement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Self harm, and Violence

uranaishi's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Death, Kidnapping, Self harm, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Colonisation, Racism, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Genocide, Physical abuse, Stalking, Xenophobia, Slavery, Abandonment, Grief, Police brutality, Murder, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Trafficking, Gaslighting, and War

Minor: Incest, Medical content, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Excrement, Pregnancy, Ableism, Alcohol, and Classism