Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

100 reviews

datskira's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense

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

2.0

This took me a while (for me) to read because it just wasn't doing it for me. I wasn't drawn to the characters, the plot, or even the romance. The world building was confusing, but it did start to make some sense by the end. I could see the big reveal of the male MC a mile away. The writing was repetitive (we get it, he has dimples) and it was too descriptive at times, making the book longer than needed. 

I haven't heard good things about the rest of the series, so I don't think I'll continue. I'll probably spoil the rest of it. I never felt myself get invested, and I feel that's important to continue a series, especially with lengthy books such as this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body shaming, Death, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Torture, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, and Sexual content

hannibanani29's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Gaslighting, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Kidnapping, Gore, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Medical content, Rape, Sexism, Alcohol, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, War, and Pregnancy

silver_lining_in_a_book's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

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

2.5

 

Fear and bravery are often one and the same. It either makes you a warrior or a coward. The only difference is the person it resides inside.

This book has problems - serious problems. I am not entirely sure how the questionable relationship at the heart of this book could have been given the Best Romance award for 2020, just as I am also not entirely sure why I read it, but here we are: people love this book and I've read it, just barely.

I cannot say that this book is bad in the slightest; it was entertaining, the world it was set in was complex and interesting, Poppy was a very likeable character, and (once we got through half of the book) we got a lot of action - plot-wise and otherwise. However, this is where my issues stem from. This romance was cringy at best and abusive and manipulative at worst. I really started to hate Poppy when her emotions oscillated between love and hate, loyalty and betrayal. After being so blatantly lied to and used, I would not put up with any boy, no matter how pretty his eyes were and how nice he smelled. I'm sorry if that isn't romantic.

I am also so over the abused yet strong main character in YA / New Adult fantasy novels. Having as much power and spirit as Poppy did would be near impossible in the abusive environment she was in and, if she truly was as powerful as the novel suggests, surely she would have stood up for herself sooner. In addition to that, who can forget about the whole pure Maiden side plot (yes, side plot because - let's be honest - the smut is the main plot)? I am not a fan; constant discussions of "naughty" acts, being "inappropriate" and just sexual relationships, in general, do not a fantasy novel make, though they certainly make the word count.

Now, I know that my mediocre experience is an anomaly here. If a dark, dystopian fantasy with a huge emphasis on romance, death and all your typical tropes (vampires, werewolves, a mysterious dark prince from another land, etc.) sounds like a good time for you, this book is worth a shot. Armentrout's writing is very readable due to its almost stream-of-consciousness quality with a sprinkling of very quotable lines throughout is nothing to complain about. I may give her other series a shot for this reason; I just hope there will be no mention of "honeydew", that was a choice. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, and Blood

Moderate: Kidnapping, Grief, and Sexism

Minor: Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Confinement

kamross's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

5.0

I'm surprised to see a lot of terrible reviews on this - but given the fact that I read it in 4 days (and would have read it much sooner if I didn't have a job and a family 😂), it's safe to say that I really enjoyed it.

I looooove slow burn and descriptive writing. Really the only negative on this for me is that I could see the plot twist coming, but that wasn't a huge deal to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Kidnapping, War, Confinement, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Child death, Cursing, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Body shaming, Sexism, Sexual content, Bullying, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Torture, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Vomit, and Stalking

tiana_king's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

Okay up front you’re going to be confused for the first dozen chapters of the book. The author info dumps about the world in no particular order and doesn’t explain things in detail for a good while. The foreshadowing is a bit obvious for a lot of things but the reveals are still interesting. With a more straightforward world building set up and more character development this would’ve been a five star book. However it’s captivating enough that about a third of the way through I was snorting it like crack lol I hope the next book is even better!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Classism, Death, Gore, Medical content, Physical abuse, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content

Moderate: Confinement, Torture, Kidnapping, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Death of parent

hvw17's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Murder, Blood, Death, Violence, and Toxic relationship

aisclaradm's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

3.0

I had a great time reading it, but realistically I couldn't give it anything higher than 3 stars because it was just so painfully badly written. 

That being said, the plot itself was great, the world was interesting, and the romance was fun. At the end of the day, I did really enjoy this book, and ultimately, that’s the reason I chose to read it, so it’d be a bit disingenuous to rate it TOO badly because of the poor writing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Gore, Torture, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Misogyny

Moderate: Cursing, Death of parent, Kidnapping, and Confinement

Minor: Cannibalism

midnacine'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? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Re-reading this as an audiobook was such a delight! Stina Nielsen does an impeccable job bringing Poppy and Hawke to life. My only gripe is that there was some inconsistency with the voice choices of different characters, so it was sometimes hard to keep track of who was speaking at specific times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Physical abuse, Blood, Grief, Sexual content, Death, Violence, Murder, Cursing, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Body horror, Medical content, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death of parent

Minor: Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Sexism, Fatphobia, Child death, Torture, War, Stalking, Body shaming, Classism, Domestic abuse, and Sexual violence

dubious consent about 75% through due to

Poppy not being fully aware of Hawke/Casteel's identity when she consented to having sex with him

marisa_n's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Child death, Child abuse, and Genocide

Minor: Infidelity, Toxic friendship, and War

taryn_g's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Grief, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Body shaming, Child death, Death of parent, and Slavery