Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Шістка воронів by Leigh Bardugo

98 reviews

arobear's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

4.0

I had a good time while reading this book, but I thought I would get much more attached to the characters given the hype I'd heard from others. It is a good character study--and who doesn't like a good heist plot?--but the plot itself felt a bit predictable for me.

I also ended up not liking the main ships that much, but I think that may be because the characters felt distant through the multiple viewpoints. It was all a bit disjointed and I failed to see the chemistry between some of them. That may just be my preference for one narrator though.

Overall, a good read, and I'll be reading the next in the series. 

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On reread after Crooked Kingdom: 

After learning more about the character backstories, I felt much more connected and invested in their stories throughout the book. Wylan and Jesper in particular - I wish there had been Wylan POV in SoC. Multiple POVs really do throw me off, so the reread (and particularly the audiobook) made that easier. Still not 100% on board for Nina/Mattias, but fell hard into shipping Wylan/Jesper and Kaz/Inej. 100000% would die for any of these kids!

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Xenophobia, Racism, and Child death

Moderate: Trafficking, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, and War

Minor: Sexual violence, Torture, and Death of parent

bashsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? No

5.0

OMG Six of Crows is incredible! I don't know why it took me so long to read it, but I'm glad I finally did. The character dynamics are so messy and fun; the heist keeps you on the edge of your seat; the worldbuilding is thorough (and you can see the cultural differences through the eyes of various characters). I can't wait to read the sequel!

I love Jesper so much he is like a blorbo to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Drug abuse, Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Chronic illness, Misogyny, Confinement, War, Murder, Grief, Trafficking, Slavery, Racism, Xenophobia, Violence, Medical content, and Kidnapping

Moderate: War, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Torture, Gore, Body horror, and Sexual violence

Minor: Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Sexual harassment

-Many references to one character's history of forced prostitution when she was a young teen

mir_frog73's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny 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

5.0

I absolutely loved this book. The plot twists were very good 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Drug use, Death, Chronic illness, Blood, Ableism, Abandonment, Xenophobia, Violence, Trafficking, Slavery, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Gaslighting, Cursing, Confinement, Body horror, and Addiction

a_win_in_clear_rain's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

3.25

I did end up liking it, especially the second half, but it took a very long time for me to get into the story... 
Glad I kept pushing through though, because it was worth it in the end! 
Might have to read the sequel even though I wasn't planning on it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Addiction, Blood, Death, Gore, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Grief and Torture

Minor: Genocide and Xenophobia

pendr3gon's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Torture

Moderate: Xenophobia, Racism, and Sexual violence

gembomb's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.75

A welcomed YA fantasy book which was described to me as a mix of game of thrones and a heist. A group of 6 teens, who work in the underbelly of the city, are brought together to perform the impossible - break out a prisoner from the Ice Court.

This was an incredibly easy read, filled with personal and romantic drama - I didn’t want to put it down! Various degrees of romantic pining are touched upon throughout. A lot of the characters and the reader are left in the dark about the heist details, I loved the thrill of guessing and being delightfully wrong.

The only thing that pulled me out of the story was… are they really all 17 years old?

I am ordering the next one

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Slavery, Trafficking, Violence, War, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Child abuse and Child death

poodily's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia and Drug use

Moderate: Slavery, Trafficking, and Child abuse

vanillaphantoms's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

I’m not sure that I was exactly the right audience for this book as I had to imagine the characters about 10 years older to find it believable. I also found the worldbuilding of each country being loosely based on real countries to be lazy at best and loosely offensive at worst. That said, I like the plot well enough, especially towards the end. All the twists were super effective and I will be reading the sequel 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Drug use, Genocide, Gun violence, Slavery, Trafficking, Violence, Xenophobia, Addiction, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Ableism

chris_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful lighthearted tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I was a little worried going into this with all the hype around it, but thankfully I really liked it. I don't think it's the flawless book some people claim, but I'd say it earns 4½ stars. 

Something that impressed me was how deftly it broached some pretty mature themes without getting depressing. Also the complexity of the characters, which is Bardugo's biggest improvement from her previous titles imo. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Addiction, Gun violence, and Trafficking

Moderate: Medical content, Blood, Body shaming, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Xenophobia

Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Sexual violence, and Child abuse

kingcrookback'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

So, I initially avoided giving into the hype over this book for a couple reasons; I'm not super into the YA genre anymore, and I refuse to engage with popular media until it's borderline irrelevant. That might've been a misjudgment. I really enjoyed this! I liked it as a whole--the characters, worldbuilding, relationships, pacing. As a disabled person, I especially appreciated Kaz. The only thing I kept getting mildly tripped up by was how young everybody was; they're all so jaded and experienced but they're also all teenagers. On the Watsonian level, I guess it could be explained by a combination of trauma and class--can't really have an unscarred childhood/adolescence when you're out there fighting for your life. On the Doyleist level, I understand that that's just the genre, and I'm probably just too old to just take it without question.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Violence, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Trafficking, Xenophobia, Addiction, and Slavery

Minor: Death of parent and Sexual violence