Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Blood Scion by Deborah Falaye

8 reviews

eeyores_flowers's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Racism, Emotional abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, Terminal illness, War, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Grief, Death, Abandonment, Genocide, Body horror, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, Police brutality, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Slavery, Blood, Rape, and Sexual assault

kbairbooks's review against another edition

I was consuming this as physical and audio (to try and have the audio assist me through the physical) and I just can’t anymore. It’s too much for me. Either death or rape or both every single chapter. Horrific thing, followed by horrific thing. There is too much horrific in real life and this fantasy is too real. It’s making me sick to my stomach. I don’t enjoy reading it, I don’t look forward to opening the book, it ruins my day. I have to be done.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Colonisation, Grief, Gun violence, Police brutality, Rape, Pedophilia, Torture, Violence, War, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, and Blood

catsandbookspluspup's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, War, Child death, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, and Torture

bookishmikay's review against another edition

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: Child abuse, Blood, Death, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, and Classism

Moderate: Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture

clairew97's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, War, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Child death, Blood, Chronic illness, Cultural appropriation, Death, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Violence, Abandonment, Body horror, Child abuse, Classism, and Genocide

bookishflower's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-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? It's complicated

3.5

I really wanted to like this, but I think it was just not my thing as I found it quite triggering. (This is my own fault for not knowing reading this book would not be good for me personally). 
However, this book has my total respect and there is no doubt that this is a rich world that will be so meaningful to other readers. You can tell the sheer amount of research that Falaye put into this book, how the topic of child soldiers was handled brutally beautifully. 
However, I was just not mentally prepared enough for the unrelenting and hard-hitting reality built into Blood Scion. I’d strongly advise checking the trigger warnings. I feel this book should be approached with the same discretion as The Poppy War which I have avoided but respected from a distance for this very reason. 
I’m glad I read Blood Scion because of Fairyloot and the read your own adventure read-a-thon, but I don’t think I will read this book again (at least not for a while).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Violence, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Self harm, War, and Xenophobia

bookswithlee's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Grief, Child death, and Abandonment

readingthroughinfinity's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

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

2.0

Thanks to Harper360 for sending me an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. 

Buddy read with Charvi. 

I was really excited for this book and ready to love it so I'm pretty disappointed that I didn't. This is a YA military fantasy about fifteen-year-old Sloane, who trains with her enemies, the Lucis, to find out the truth about what happened to her mother. Despite being YA, this book is actually darker than some adult novels I've read, so please check the content warnings before you pick it up.

This book had so much potential and there were some great moments between Izara and Sloane, but I had some issues were with the plot, pacing and writing style. The writing style feels very repetitive at the beginning of the story, with the main character telling us the same information multiple times in the first few chapters. The narrative style also made it hard to connect with the characters initially, as it felt like there was distance between us and them. 

I think the book could have done with a big structural overhaul, as there were a few plot holes and things that didn't match up with what we'd previously been told. The pacing and use of time in the book also felt off, as there were times when a week would pass and it felt like no time at all, but at other times, hours felt like days. The whole book is set within the span of a month, but it feels more like six months from the way things are described. 

The novel's world building is good and I really liked the inclusion of Yoruba culture and mythology. Izara was definitely my favourite character; I enjoyed seeing her grow and develop as a person. Her friendship with Sloane was one of my favourite aspects of the book so

it's an understatement to say I was upset about what happened to her later in the story

. 

The book shows us, in detail, the destructive impact war has on childhood and is highly critical of colonialism. I think the narrative could have benefited from with even more nuance and depth in these discussions. (I also think, due to the nature of this story, romance was unnecessary and the overtones of coloniser/colonised romance were a big no for me.) 

Content warnings for murder, torture, death, death of a parent, death/murder of children, blood, violence, fire and injuries from fire, sexual assault, attempted rape, war, genocide, colonialism and colonial violence, cultural appropriation.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, and War

Moderate: Cultural appropriation and Rape

Minor: Body horror