Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne

14 reviews

singalana's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Maybe I read this book at a bad time, but getting through it felt like a chore. It’s a shame because it’s in no way a bad book!

The Shadow of the Gods is the first instalment in a Norse mythology-inspired fantasy series by John Gwynne. This is not his first series, but I haven’t read this previous work. I’d classify this book as grimdark - if you’re a fan of epic battles, grisly deaths and vengeance-fueled characters, this book might be for you. 

In this fantasy world, the gods have killed each other in a fearsome battle and nearly destroyed the world in the process. Those with the gods’ blood in their veins are hunted and enslaved. We follow three main characters; Orka, Varg, and Elvar, who all have their quests and secrets. 

Two out of the three main characters are women: Orka, who lives in the wilderness with her family, and Elvar, who is a member of a mercenary group called the Battle-Grim. Varg is trying to find out what happened to his sister. All the characters are interesting, and I found myself caring for them, especially Varg and Orka.

The world is rich and interesting, and it’s revealed bit by bit. I enjoyed the writing in every other aspect except one: the author loved to use the word “thought-cage”, which in this instance refers to the thinking mind. The word appeared in almost every chapter, and every time, it managed to jolt me out of the story. 

I had no idea what I was getting into when I started reading this book: the blurb is absolutely useless and tells nothing about the book. If I had seen this in a bookstore, I would not have bought it based on that. Alas, I got it as a gift, so here we are. Perhaps the lack of a blurb hurt my reading experience because I had no idea where we were headed with the story. Since this is a series, the first book was pretty much a set p for the series. Even though a lot happened, I felt the book really started to intrigue me only in the last third or so. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Violence, War, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent, Kidnapping, Grief, Animal death, and Slavery

Minor: Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Cursing, Child abuse, Excrement, and Alcohol

cluelessjr's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, War, Blood, Murder, Torture, Death, Gore, Kidnapping, Slavery, and Trafficking

valjeanval's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.0

My book club billed this one as "reading Skyrim," and I think that's pretty spot on for better and worse. The characters and setting are all pretty excellent with great world building. I especially enjoy viking warrior mom even if I kept misreading her name as Okra instead of Orka. Honestly, I appreciate everything Gwynne does to subvert the patriarchal norms of historical fiction and saying, this is still fiction. This is fantasy. Let's just make a society where the genders are more or less even because we can.

The plot, however, is meandering and constantly interrupted by random encounter fight scenes.  Fun to play as a game, less fun to read. And those fight scenes are gory to a level that I just don't enjoy. It also suffers from being only half a book, and I'm not sure I enjoyed it enough to pursue the sequel right away. We shall see, but overall, a unique piece of norse-inspired fantasy though not entirely my cuppa.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, War, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Cursing, Torture, Child abuse, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

orvillefartenbacher's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Trafficking, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore

Minor: Child abuse

siomhaw'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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, War, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Kidnapping, Classism, Death, Murder, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Slavery

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Body shaming

Minor: Excrement

hiddeninfantasy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Death, Slavery, Body horror, Child abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Gore, Blood, Genocide, and War

xta_07's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

A truly bloody brutal fantasy story loosely based in Norse mythology.
This book follows three main protagonists - A former slave trying to find his place, a warrior seeking to make a name for herself, and a battle hardened mother on a quest for revenge. 

What a ride! I was hooked from the beginning. John Gwyenne KNOWS how to write a compelling fight scene, and that seriously a good thing since there was a major fight or battle almost every other chapter in this book. What I truly appreciate was that this wasn’t just a book about revenge, or glorification of violence. It truly explored the bonds that people create through trama and what found family can look like. Also, the world building and character development were near perfect. I can’t wait to read book 2!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Child abuse, Slavery, and Classism

Minor: Torture

saltycoffee's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Body horror, Child abuse, Grief, Torture, Trafficking, Blood, Murder, Slavery, Xenophobia, Classism, Confinement, War, Animal death, Death of parent, and Gore

emeraldtaila's review against another edition

adventurous tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Two of the three main characters are badass, axe wielding, skull crushing badass women! and Varg is pretty cool too, haha. you are going to fall in love with the characters and their stories. I cannot wait to read the second book! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Gore

Minor: Child abuse

eegekay's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, War, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Trafficking, and Violence

Moderate: Gore and Body horror

Minor: Fatphobia