Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Malice by John Gwynne

7 reviews

grunks's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense 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? No

4.5

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol

josiah17's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

The primary reason this isn't a 5 star read is because of the rough beginning. There's an overload of characters and POVs introduced and it just felt a little overwhelming and chaotic. 

Otherwise, this was an absolutely phenomenal book. And it's a debut novel? Ridiculous. I think Gwynne's writing is slightly more polished in his Bloodsworn books, but his work here is still nothing short of excellent. The world of the Banished Lands that has been crafted is epic in scope, mysterious, mystical, and has an astounding amount of depth with various kingdoms, wildlife, and history. 

The characters are tremendous too. It took me a minute to warm up to Corban as he's thirteen at the start of the book, but by the end he's aged a few more years and he's clearly incredibly mature and well beyond his years. He's on his way to being an all-time favorite protagonist. And I loved the deliberate choice to view the descent of Nathair through the eyes of Veradis. I'm very intrigued by their dynamic going forward. And there are several other very likeable characters with standout moments and plenty of depth.  

And the action. My goodness John Gwynne is definitely the king of writing action sequences. I feel like I can picture every single movement; he writes them so vividly and immerses you right within the moment. 

I'm so excited to continue the series. I'm so excited to keep reading the rest of Gwynne's works. The Faithful and The Fallen will undoubtedly become a top 5 favorite series for me. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Gore

Minor: Animal cruelty and Torture

ripxw's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Animal death, Murder, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, and Blood

Moderate: Torture, Death, War, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism

kat1105's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Child abuse, Misogyny, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, War, Torture, and Violence

darkefyres's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-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? No

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Violence, War, Alcohol, Animal death, Death, Murder, and Gore

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Animal cruelty, and Child death

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Physical abuse, and Torture

jaedia's review

adventurous emotional hopeful tense medium-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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, and Violence

Moderate: Murder, Toxic friendship, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexism, and War

Minor: Terminal illness, Child abuse, Confinement, Medical trauma, Alcoholism, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Self harm, and Torture

seanml's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

 600-something pages of pure fantasy goodness. I'll spare you the details so you can experience them all yourself.

Highlights: Jumping back and forth between multiple narrators in differing and exciting situations means you keep reading until you just can't anymore. GIANTS!

Passes the Bechdel test?: Yes!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Violence, Animal death, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Gore, and Torture

Minor: Sexism, Misogyny, and Alcoholism