Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Шістка воронів by Leigh Bardugo

237 reviews

david_slack110507's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

4.5

About a year or so ago, I began reading the Shadow and Bone trilogy as a means to enter Leigh Bardugo's world of the Grishaverse, admittedly, the main reason why I had started to read that trilogy was to start reading this duology, the Six of Crows duology, as it had been so widely critically acclaimed, recommended, and well received that they were put on my radar but I decided I would read the Shadow and Bone trilogy books first, as while not necessary to read these books, I'm glad I did as not only did it allow me to appreciate the little nods and mentions to the aforementioned trilogy spread throughout this book, but it also meant that I wasn't going into this book blind when it came to the lore and the Grisha systems of the world. I also found that it allowed me to appreciate the overall upward shift in quality because while eventually, I did really enjoy the Shadow and Bone books, this one was just another level. 

One of the main enticements of this book for me was the characters and I'm glad to say that the characters, at least our main group of 6, all were incredibly well-written and developed. I think their connections as a group as well as intergroup connections with one another were so well done. I loved them all - Kaz, Inej, Jesper, Wylan, Nina, and Matthias - and I found that I was never once bored when it shifted to either one of their perspectives which I'm really glad this book did as everyone had a unique character background which explained why they were doing what they were doing as well as having unique perspectives on the heist that lay ahead of them. 

Speaking of the heist, I found that the heist as the plot was actually really strong, and it helped move the book along at a brisk but nice pace allowing for moments to breathe before the next one arrived. I found the pre-planning and the constant shift in plan when something unaccounted for happened or when something wrong took place was extremely enjoyable and it was really good to see these characters constantly face change during their heist on the Ice Court and adapt the best that they could. 

I also really liked seeing the world beyond Ravka and the Grisha's perspective as that was something that, now looking back on it, was missing from the Shadow and Bone books so it was interesting to see what the Fjerdans/Fjerda thinks of Grisha and vice versa as well as seeing the story set in a place of less elegance and extravagance than Ravka with East Stave and the 'Barrel'. It also built upon Grisha magic with the introduction of Jurda Parem, a drug that allows Grisha to do unimaginable things that break the previous limits of their power; I do wish we had gotten to see more of it but I also think that what we saw did demonstrate well enough why it was so dangerous to the world and why it was imperative that this not fall into the wrong hands. 

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this even if it did take me a lot longer than I wanted to but I found it to be a huge step up from the Shadow and Bone books and the next book is rated even better so I can't even imagine how good of a treat that'll be which I'm hoping to get around to relatively soon as I try and finish up the other books I have on the go. I'm interested in seeing whether or not the next book, Crooked Kingdom, will resolve the cliffhanger off screen (or off the page in this instance, with explanations in the form of exposition spread throughout to explain it) or whether it will start the book and wrap it up relatively quickly to then go onto the actual plot of that book but I guess only time will tell.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Medical content, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

c_l_ara's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Confinement, Drug use, Racism, Rape, Torture, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, and Classism

Minor: Ableism, Genocide, and War

axel_p's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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? Yes

4.0

I was a bit dissapointed. I thought this book was spething completely else.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

what_karla_reads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: War

Minor: Confinement, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Religious bigotry, and Sexual harassment

akane_readsyt's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Slavery, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Gaslighting

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

mezzoanddolce's review against another edition

adventurous 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

If I could rate this more than 5 stars, I would.

THIS. BOOK.

This book has been hyped by SO many people. Was I skeptical at first? Idrk. But ik now that that hype is 100% deserved. This book is so good and gets you hooked early. It is definitely  a good 'investment' of your time.

see what I did there. lol

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing and Alcohol

eguare's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional 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

4.75

I couldn't put this book down, and re-read it about 3 months after finishing it (which I almost never do). I was so engrossed with this book that I didn't even realize that I'd been supposed to read the Shadow & Bone trilogy first until I'd already finished this duology. I greatly appreciated being able to experience a wide-reaching and politically complex fantasy world that wasn't weighed down with constant gratuitous physical and sexual violence (looking at you, GRRM). I'm now fully immersed in the Grishaverse, and can only pray that Leigh Bardugo returns to it in the future. My only (and very slight) critique is that the sense of humor (not of the characters, but in the narration) occasionally seems rather juvenile, though perhaps that's an unfair criticism - it's published in the YA genre, after all.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual violence and Trafficking

While one of the characters has experienced horrific sexual violence in her past, it is not the central conflict of her story (that is, it's not the "thing that made her stronger"), it is not described graphically and only mentioned in any detail a couple of times, and both the characters and the narrative treat it as a disgusting crime, not something that's minor or something that's inevitable, as is the case with many fantasy books.

itzme's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Drug use, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Physical abuse, Slavery, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cursing, Torture, and Kidnapping

mozimmerm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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 love this book so much. I read it for the first time in January and already had to do a re-read. Extraordinary characters, exhilarating plot, slowburn romance. So so good. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol

vnfhcxksiw's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail