Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

War by Laura Thalassa

4 reviews

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

emmathebookworm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

This was definitely better than the first book. However, I felt like something was missing. I would’ve liked to see more of War’s POV,  which could’ve really captured his moral struggles throughout the story. It’s a bit slow at times and the end was quite fast, but that doesn’t make the book much less enjoyable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Child death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Violence, War, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Torture, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Cursing, Vomit, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

tiana_king's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-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

3.5

So this book was the opposite of Pestilence in that the forced proximity made sense but the romance didn’t. Miriam getting swept up into War’s camp? Reasonable. Yet somehow even with all the time Miriam and War spent together I don’t understand how she fell in love with him. Perhaps it was too subtle for me. Additionally the story ends with some things still unanswered which is irritating. Romance aside the plot was interesting and had enough action to be exciting at times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexual content, Vomit, Violence, War, Confinement, Grief, Death of parent, Gun violence, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, and Animal death

beth_waller97's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

3.0

These books get longer, the smut gets shorter, and the story drags on with absolutely no actual plot other than ‘I’m banging a horseman. Definitely shouldn’t be banging a horseman. Oh fuck, look, here’s the consequences of my actions’ 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Death, Genocide, Rape, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Blood

Moderate: Pregnancy