Reviews tagging 'Torture'

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

39 reviews

emily_mh's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

4.5

I went into this book fully expecting it to be completely centred around Nikolai and for him to be the star of the show, but this was definitely not the case in a surprisingly good way. Instead, the female characters absolutely SHONE in this book and completely stole the show. They were just incredible. It was a joy to read from Nina's perspective again, but it was actually Zoya who I fell in love with. She's had such an incredible character arc over the course of the Grishaverse and that was really revealed and expanded upon in this book. She's such a bad ass and doing a much better job of being the main character than Nikolai is. 

Being back in the Grishaverse was a delight, but so was reading Bardugo's writing again. It is wonderfully descriptive, and her plot development here is truly on another level in comparison to Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows. I really enjoyed seeing her expand her world-building, and she REALLY knows how to write incredible endings.

I docked a half-star for two reasons. The first is that I felt extremely disconnected from Nikolai, to the point where (shockingly, given he was one of my favourite characters in Shadow and Bone), I was dreading his POV chapters. The second is that for the first half of this book the plot felt a little directionless in that I didn't really know what the book was going to be about until like 250 pages in.

Also, the return of the Darkling kind of feels like a cheap enemy and I'm worried about how it's going to impact my enjoyment of Rule of Wolves.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexism, and War

Minor: Ableism, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Excrement, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, and Vomit

luluslittlelibrary's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

I really liked this book more than I expected. The beginning is painfully slow, so it was hard to get into, but once things started moving at a faster pace, I was hooked. I loved getting to read Zoya and Nikolai's POVs for the first time. They both have very clear "voices" so it was super engaging to read from their perspectives. I would have also been interested in getting a POV from Genya or David as well in this book. 

I LOVE Nina's storyline. For me, I was a lot more interested in what was going on with her in Fjerda than I was with the others in Ravka. I'm not going to give any spoilers but I would recommend this to anyone interested in reading more about Nina and what she's doing as a Ravkan spy in Fjerda.

And then there's the sequel. I definitely liked Rule of Wolves more than King of Scars so I would recommend reading it even if you didn't love King of Scars (I think it is much better). Once again I love everything that happens with Nina (and Hanne!). And I think the connection between Zoya and Juris is very interesting. I'm not big on the storyline surrounding the darkling, I think it was interesting but maybe didn't belong in this book (?). Also, the ending is SO GOOD.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Death, Grief, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Child abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Murder, Gore, Child death, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Trafficking, Domestic abuse, Racism, Slavery, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, and Pedophilia

ghostofthegallows's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.25

Great stand alone duology. It was a strange mix of fast and slow. A bit confusing as to what was going on but its very good. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Religious bigotry, Adult/minor relationship, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Torture, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Cursing, Death, and Grief

epellicci's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

King of Scars is the gripping follow up to both the Shadow & Bone trilogy and Six of Crows duology. Nikolai, Zoya, and Nina lead the narrative based in post-war Ravka and the aftermath of events in both previous series. I always find the use of multiple perspectives a little confusing at first, and this book was no expection despite previous knowledge of the characters and world. But the story settled into a followable rhythm quickly, and Bardugo continues to balence her narratives wonderfully in order to maintain adventure and tension throughout the changing narratives.
What I particularly enjoyed about this book is how well Bardugo knows her characters. They feel authentic and human, rather than being overpowered by the enormous fantasy stage they're presented on. They are relatable and carry a complicated, and politically nuanced plot brilliantly. I will always enjoy returning to Bardugo's world.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Murder

brokencastles's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.5

Such an amazing book as always from the Grishaverse, I wanted to to go on forever if I’m honest!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexism, and Torture

Moderate: Addiction and Fatphobia

mikaelaandherbooks's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated

4.0

A great continuation to the previous Grishaverse books as we see greater character development in our beloved characters and a deeper insight into the ever-changing political scene of this fantasy world.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture and Death

kaylamoran's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.0

Better than Shadow and Bone, but not as good as Six of Crows.  I'm glad Leigh stuck with the multiple perspectives set up, as I much prefer it.  However I will say that one of the storylines was much less interesting than the other ones, at least for me.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Miscarriage, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Xenophobia

lennie_reads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Grief

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Infertility, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Slavery, and Torture

aviery's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Death, Grief, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Drug use, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking