Reviews tagging 'Child death'

War by Laura Thalassa

22 reviews

kemikorosu's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual violence, and Murder

Moderate: Child death and War

bedtimesandbooks's review against another edition

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death of parent, Sexual content, Murder, Child death, War, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Rape

smuttymcbookface's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Although I loved a lot of this, I found it less palatable that Pestilence because Miriam felt too stupid to live a lot of the time (

particularly at the end, where she kills herself to prevent him any pain he might have whilst he removes himself from the trap

).

Beyond that though, I loved the humanisation of everyone: War's transformation felt gradual and believable; the baddies (War's men) had sweetness and bitterness too; and Zara felt nuanced and realistic. I also loved that there was a different setting for this (like there will be in Famine), and how the past conflicts of those areas added to War's power.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, War, Death, Kidnapping, Violence, and Sexual content

Moderate: Pregnancy and Rape

Minor: Child death

cdmkylo's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-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: Gore, Violence, Blood, Death, Sexual content, and War

Minor: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Child death, Death of parent, Vomit, and Pregnancy

queerloras's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

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

3.5

Oh my god, I wanted to hate this book so much more than I did. Like, some of the writing was fucking hysterical ("only a woman with a vagina the size of a crater could fit War's cock", anyone?!), and boo to the reforming of the villain (way more attractive as the Horseman, rather than the man), but. I'm now going to read the rest of the series.

Also, the comparisons to Khal Drogo are so it. That's exactly what he's like.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Genocide, Blood, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Medical content, Death, Sexual violence, Animal death, Grief, Physical abuse, Rape, Deportation, Slavery, Cannibalism, Child death, Colonisation, Murder, Animal cruelty, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, War, Body horror, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, and Pregnancy

madoav's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

Okay, I liked the premise of this book a bit better than Pestilence, and I didn't think Pestilence was bad! I just found the start to War and Miriam's relationship a bit more easy to grasp than the start of Pestilence and Sara's. I enjoyed this book a lot! I got really annoyed at both Miriam and War at many points in the book, but I especially liked how the two were able to make up, and how War himself actually wanted to make meaningful change. I thought Miriam was a bit needlessly stupid towards the end of the book (the man could heal himself for crying out loud), but I'm glad they got their happy ending. I'm excited to start the third book.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Death, Violence, Child death, and War

Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

devilbunny6's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, Sexual content, War, Suicidal thoughts, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Rape, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Child death, and Fire/Fire injury

xangemthelibrarian's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

Yep yep yep. A sequel that lives up to book 1. It's been a bit since I'd read Pestilence, so I forgot about that delicious tension woven into these stories but I LIVE FOR IT. Break the characters' hearts. I adore it. 

A minor little spoiler though, that deus ex machina War pulled at the very end pulled me out of the story, but I am willing to forgive it for the ending we got. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Child death, Blood, and War

kirahaycock21's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

I thought there was a little too much back and forth on and off again between the main characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Death, Genocide, Grief, and Sexual content

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Gun violence, Child death, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Cursing, Kidnapping, and Blood

Minor: Animal death and Death of parent

mattiedancer's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

3.75

Writing: 3.25⭐️/5 

Alright, so the writing is serviceable. I liked it in the sense that it didn’t get in the way. I did feel like the pacing was a bit off for this one. I noticed a lot more exposition starting to creep in. It felt a bit less polished. Overall, though, it stood out less than her first book in this series (Pestilence) strictly because it felt a bit like a carbon copy in certain sections.

Characters: 3.5⭐️/5

Above I said that the writing felt a bit too familiar. So did the characters. Now, War is completely different than Pestilence. Miriam feels a little too similar to Sara. As the novel picked up, she definitely struck out on her own, gaining her own sense of self. However, by then the similarities were embedded into my brain too much, and it became harder to notice their differences. I did appreciate getting a few more side characters in this one as well, even if some of them lacked a bit of depth.

Plot: 3.75⭐️/5 

The plot is fun – and, you guessed it, overall very similar to Pestilence. All in all, I did enjoy the differences, loving how Miriam pushed against her fate as War’s wife. I loved how he, in his differences from Pestilence, forced her to move in different directions. I will say the end felt a bit too pulled out. Everything felt so over, and for everyone to come back to kill War just felt a bit contrived, as though Thalassa was trying too hard to make the ending similar to Pestilence.

Who Should Read This Book? 

• Fans of ACOTAR and dystopian societies
• Someone looking for a romance with an intriguing plot
• Those who like fantasy/apocalyptic novels that centre on romance
• Readers who like (or don’t mind) a bit of spice, but not just spice
• Those who liked and loved the first book (but maybe take a break between so it’s not too fresh)

Content Warnings? 

Death, murder, murder, sexual content, physical abuse, emotional abuse, kidnapping, fire, fire injury, gore, blood, injury, injury detail, gun violence, violence, animal death, torture, grief, body horror, sexual harassment, sexual assault, war, 

Post-Reading Rating:  3⭐️/5

I didn’t love how the ending came about. Very contrived and pushed towards predictability, when it didn’t have to be.

Final Rating: 3.5⭐️/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual harassment, Violence, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Colonisation, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, War, Blood, Murder, Cursing, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Self harm, and Toxic friendship