Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Witch King by H.E. Edgmon

82 reviews

hazel_oat's review against another edition

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Child death, Murder, Confinement, Abandonment, Classism, and Death

Moderate: Drug use, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Transphobia, Gore, Deadnaming, Sexual violence, and Violence

Minor: War, Hate crime, and Genocide

jennireadsmaybe's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny 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

The Witch King is such a strong start to a fantasy duology featuring a trans witch MMC, his fae childhood best friend and fated mate, his fat Indigenous new best friend, and so many more fun characters. H.E. Edgmon explores repression and indigenous in both the fae kingdom and the human world that Wyatt flees to prior to the start of the series. 

A queer normative fae world is the most powerful aspect of The Witch King, because so much of fae fantasy romance revolves around cishet fated mates. Wyatt is unapologetically trans and not falling for the pressure to become the baby-making mate the kingdom needs him to be. I loved everything about it!! 

I'm excited to see what's to come in the second book after where things left off. 

This book is perfect for anyone looking for queer fantasy, messy and chaotic trans/queer characters, and just a funny time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault, Transphobia, and Deadnaming

Minor: Child abuse

tinysierra's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I love Wyatt as a narrator. He is so funny.

Book 10 for the
#TransRightsReadathon2024

CW: Wyatt is a vomiter 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Stalking, Vomit, Classism, Excrement, Grief, Homophobia, Bullying, Infertility, Death, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Colonisation, Gore, War, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, and Terminal illness

Minor: Racial slurs and Drug use

mihrreader's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

Wyatt is a very complicated and traumatized character, but he feels very real and very human, and probably pretty relatable to a lot of readers.  His decisions, though self-sabotaging, are understandable and propel the plot forward without being frustrating or irritating.  The supporting cast is good.  The antagonists felt realistic and threatening for most of the book, up until the end, where they suddenly felt caricatured (one of them goes on a classic villain How I Did It monologue, which, while helpful for understanding the behind-the-scenes machinations that lead up to the twist, felt like the author turning to the readers and saying "here's a bunch of information I couldn't figure out how to get into the book any other way, enjoy the monologue," and I didn't care for it too much).

The story ends with a clear segue into a sequel, but enough of the book-one-specific plot threads wrapped up that it doesn't feel incomplete or like a cop out. I'll definitely read the sequel when I can get my hands on it.

Dani Martineck is an excellent narrator!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Death

Moderate: Emotional abuse

saracat's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

5.0

I knew from the content warnings this would be a hard read in some ways. But there were also tears and emotions I was not expecting to feel from this book.

Despite all of Wyatt's flaws, there is almost never a moment I was not on his side. All decisions he made that from the outside were bad, could be understood based on how he'd been treated in the past and how he continued to be treated by others. This is not to say that Wyatt doesn't have responsibility for his actions, but the reasoning behind them makes sense. And really, when someone is so violently backed into a corner, it shouldn't be a surprise if they lash out.

Watching the evolution of Wyatt as an individual and his relationship with those around him really pulled at my heart so often. I cannot wait to start the next book in this duology.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Racism, Violence, Deadnaming, and Transphobia

Minor: Sexual assault

The 'racism' is not between humans, but from the fae towards the witches.

carter4ca13's review against another edition

adventurous emotional fast-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

3.25

the story and worldbuilding had potential, and it was a mostly enjoyable read. that being said i did not like the writing style. 

also the characters could have been a lot more fleshed out. one issue that i have is that the side characters’ motivations are never really explained so especially in the later half of the book i just had to accept things at face value. also it feels like nothing the characters do has actual consequences. whatever happens tends to gets resolved or undone in the next chapter, and sometimes things just seem to happen for the sake of the plot, but then have no real impact on the story

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death

Minor: Transphobia and Self harm

simplyammee's review

adventurous tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Infertility, Suicide, Cursing, Physical abuse, Death, Gore, Grief, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Xenophobia, Deadnaming, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Transphobia, and Blood

Check the tw!! The deadnaming & misgendering in this book are done very compassionately

abarnakwn_ourcolourfulpages's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Gore, Death of parent, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Deadnaming, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Cursing, and Blood

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Child abuse, Slavery, Outing, Miscarriage, and Transphobia

Minor: Sexual content

buttermellow's review against another edition

adventurous reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, and Bullying

Moderate: Colonisation, Infertility, Physical abuse, Violence, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Deadnaming and Death

demawenda's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted 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? Yes

3.75

Przez pół książki sądziłam, że ta recenzja nie będzie zbyt pochlebna... Książka zdecydowanie skierowana do młodszego niż ja czytelnika(albo to ja jestem za stara ducjem z moim lvl22). Postacie są lekkomyślne i niezbyt "myślące". Szybkie zmiany zdania, które powinny zachodzić stopniowo, dwie postacie się nienawidzą, a w następnym rozdziale mają w pełni kochającą relację, dla mnie to mało realistyczne. Sam świat stworzony bardzo ciekawie, mimo małych niedopowiedzień i dziwnych sformuowań (mówię tu o rogach, które mogą się poruszać i zmieniac barwę? Nie wiem czy to moja interpretacja opisu czy naprawdę takie rzeczy się dzieją). Na samym końcu spotykamy żółte słoneczko Polsatu, ostrzeżenie dla wszystkich czytających przed wyjściem drugiej części w naszym ojczystym języku. Podsumowując, książka nie była zła, naprawdę wciągnęłam mnie gdzieś za połową.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Bullying, Deadnaming, Rape, Death, and Fire/Fire injury