Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Lore by Alexandra Bracken

68 reviews

bumblingbee03's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Grief, Violence, War, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Confinement, Death, Sexism, Terminal illness, and Misogyny

Moderate: Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Cancer, Confinement, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Child death, and Cursing

Minor: Alcohol, Genocide, Torture, Vomit, Child death, Gun violence, and Animal death

fadeddpages's review against another edition

adventurous

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Murder, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Blood, Grief, Sexism, Torture, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Classism, Misogyny, Terminal illness, and Violence

tmook's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense

3.75

“By the gods—sea, fire, and women are the three evils.” (p. 443).

Dark throughout, but a happy ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Violence, Death, Child abuse, and Child death

Moderate: Terminal illness, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Cancer, and Sexism

Minor: Pedophilia

dr_amy_k_west's review against another edition

adventurous emotional

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

Not sure how to rate this one. Got the rec from a fave booktoker and not unhappy about it. I did devour it (an easier read and enjoyed the pacing and mythology). That said, I struggled in places: the plot meandered, supporting characters weren't well-developed, and was rather disappointed in the anticlimactic ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child abuse, Misogyny, Torture, Bullying, Terminal illness, and Sexism

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Rape, and Sexual assault

princegene95's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gore, Murder, Suicide attempt, Child death, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, War, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Pedophilia, Violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Pedophilia, Torture, and Sexual assault

senseioftheinternet's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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: Child death, Violence, Suicide, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Gore, and Death

Moderate: War, Sexism, Body horror, Terminal illness, Grief, Murder, and Death of parent

Minor: Vomit

buer's review against another edition

adventurous funny tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Lore follows its titular character Melora as she is dragged back into a borderline magical world that she has spent her young adult life trying to escape. The story mostly follows her and a small group of friends as they try to figure out why people in that world are looking for Melora and eventually doing everything they can to save New York City from a threatening force. The story includes flashbacks to formative moments in her childhood when she was still involved in this world and training to be a god hunter.

There are several surprises and twists woven into the story and the modernization of and constant references to Greek Mythology is fun. Bracken artfully brings various ancient myths up in a way that always gives the reader a chance to figure out if they know the story before she gives the sparks notes version for anyone who can't quite remember the details. Characters are all strong-willed people who have values that they adhere to rigidly, which means that there isn't much in the way of character-building, but the plot moves quickly under the choices made by our leading characters.

I did find my interest in the story flagging toward the end of of the book. This could just be a result of me trying to finish the entire thing too quickly and it was just too much all at once, but the story leaps from one brutal killing or assault or attack to another and that gets exhausting.

Being who I am, I don't love that all of the main characters are shipped, but I wasn't surprised that Bracken made those choices.

I think I was also hoping for a book that was  more empowering - I don't find stories that are constantly fighting misogynistic structures and people to be that empowering because they lean so hard on the existence of misogyny on the first place.

I listened to the audio book, which I'm not sure if I would recommend. I liked the narrator, but I had trouble keeping track of all the different houses and weapons and whatnot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, War, Sexism, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Terminal illness

jacq_benoit's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Blood, Sexual assault, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Sexism, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Terminal illness

hollyheartless's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-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

4.0

I will admit I had to pick this book up a couple of times to actually get started with it. Once you get to grips with the history of the characters and the world the characters are experiencing it is really thrilling. I was absolutely hooked. Would definitely recommend if you have the patience for a slow burner to start but when the action hits… it hits

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Murder, Blood, Death, and Physical abuse

Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, and Terminal illness

ladyseven's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Terminal illness

Minor: Rape, Torture, and Gore