Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

33 reviews

mads_reads_books's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Colonisation, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Stalking, Child abuse, Ableism, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Miscarriage, Classism, Violence, Death of parent, and Hate crime

Moderate: Misogyny and Miscarriage

caitlinpfry's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious 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

4.5

There were a very areas of the story that seemed distracted and not necessary to move the story forward. 

I am in love with how much the author has weaved in from actual history into this books as it makes my late night research wormholes much more worthwhile than TikTok doomscrolling 😂

I will say Diana is incredibly patient with Matthew and his middle school girl moods 😅

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Blood, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Drug use

emoxxecologist's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

3.5

So much of this book is set in the past, in Elizabethan England. The historical aspects of it were intriguing to me for multiple reasons. We get to see the roles of different types of women and their parts of running a household. There were a lot of little details the author threw in about life back then, which tells me she did her research. One such thing is how you used to have to get to the palace by boat. The city of London and its surroundings are so ancient, but it used to look so different that parts of it would be unrecognizable now to someone that lived back then. 

The writing was superb, but I hated how Matthew was such a dick most of the time. And it was like Diana just took it. That was what made me lower my rating from 4.75 stars to 3.5. It’s hard for me to imagine a modern woman, and a feminist at that, putting up with that man’s BS. Outside of needing her magic lessons, I’m surprised she didn’t kick him to the curb on more than one occasion.

Especially after that first miscarriage- he was acting like a total twat, getting lost in his own shit and coming home high on drugs, without even considering her feelings.

He could seriously be really selfish sometimes, but I guess that’s entitled men in Elizabethan England? Women were basically property and second class citizens. But I guess in some ways it’s a good thing that they worked through their differences so that he could make the kind of character development we all wanted to see. So I guess overall, I didn’t like some of the plot points that it took to get there, but I can’t change it. 

I did like how there was kind of back and forth between Matthew and Diana in the past and the rest of the family in the present, so there wasn’t a ton for the readers to catch up on when they got back. It was cool how the family tracked down the painted miniatures and other little trinkets from their time in the past. This was also a smart way to introduce Phoebe into the story, since she was an employee at the auction house.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage and Pregnancy

Moderate: Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Misogyny, and Violence

Minor: Drug abuse

gillian_aftanas's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Death, Grief, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Misogyny, Murder, Blood, Mental illness, Gore, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Sexism, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Classism, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, and Death of parent

Minor: Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Sexual assault, Vomit, Confinement, Child abuse, Child death, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Drug abuse, and Rape

zoenelson's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad 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

4.25

Second books in a series often struggle to live up to their prequel and this one suffered in the same way. It covered a lot, to be fair, but to me pacing was a major issue. We spent 200 pages doing little to advance the plot, which was then shoved in throughout the book in sometimes rushed and uncomfortable ways. 

I think Harkness also struggled to balance the many conflicts raised in the first book, on top of introducing a whole new cast of historical characters. The conflicts between Matthew and Diana, as well as with others, felt manufactured in this novel. 

Despite the shortcomings, there was a lot to love: some of the new characters enriched the story (Pierre, Gallowglass, the children,

Phillipe

); the depiction of Elizabethan England and Prague was exciting; the magic system is complex and interesting; the love between our main characters is believable and beautiful; and the vignettes back in the future were amazing.

I have hope she's setting us up well for the final book in the trilogy!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Miscarriage and Blood

Minor: Torture, Violence, and Pregnancy

kirsten_rainbow's review

adventurous dark emotional 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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Minor: Abandonment and Antisemitism

amy_reading_23's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.75

I enjoyed this book a lot more than the first one. It's possibly one of the best historical novels I've read as it does truly bring Elizabethan England to life. There was also a lightheartedness to this novel that the first one lacked. I also enjoyed the more focused exploration of witchcraft. 

The only reason I won't give it 4 stars is because I still don't like how Matthew treats Diana. Mostly he is better than the first book but that's not saying much. He is still abusive and its still excused as being because of his vampirism and past. It is such a shame as without that these would be great books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Death, and Blood

joey_paige's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Infertility, Miscarriage, Blood, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Grief, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Murder, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Animal death, Rape, and Drug use

flyintothestorm's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Sexual content, Blood, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

saroreen's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture, Violence, and Blood

Minor: Antisemitism