Reviews tagging 'Child death'

La guérisseuse de Zalindov by Lynette Noni

122 reviews

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

 Rating: 5/5 stars 
 
Kiva has been imprisoned at Zalindov since she was seven years old…but the arrival of two new inmates will change everything. 
 
I went into this book almost completely blind as part of a buddy read after seeing a friend rave about the series. I was absolutely hooked from the very first page and loved the way that all of this played out. The characters were excellent, the plot was engaging, and the twists were INCREDIBLE…I predicted the core reveals very early on but didn’t see all of the detailed nuances of them and the final couple pages got a BIG gasp from me at 1am. 
 
The vibes here were also so original—I don’t think I’ve ever read a book with a setting/tone/premise quite like this one and I was totally intrigued the entire time. And the set-up for THE GILDED CAGE has me on the edge of my seat…I absolutely cannot WAIT to dive in. 
 
Highly HIGHLY recommend! 
 
CW: Addiction, child abuse, child death, lots of death in general, violence (including sexual violence), self harm, torture, blood/injury, lots of medical content 


Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

THE TRIALS WERE SO....BLAND UHM WHAT

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark hopeful tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous emotional fast-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

I really liked this book!!
The writing style is nice and the pacing is perfect, I was never bored.
The world building was interesting and even though none of the plot twists surprised me (I unfortunately always theorize about possible plot points and what I would have done if I had written the book and most of the time some of my thoughts come true - which was also the case here) I still thought they were incorporated into the story very neatly.
The end of the book was so good! I would definitely recommend having the second book at the ready when you finish this one:)

I must say that as of right now, I’m kind of on Jaren’s side more than I am on Kiva’s. I have a few reasons for that.
1. I feel like the fallout with the royal family was so long ago (like 500 years ago?) that I don’t think anyone of them has “more” of a claim to the throne. I would understand wanting to overthrow them if they would suppress their people but Jaren seems to care for his people and when it comes to Zalindov, I feel like it’s a very autonomous (albeit unchecked) system that they don’t really control (which maybe they should - or they should just abolish it🙂)
2. Jaren has been NOTHING but nice to Kiva!! Yes, he omitted the truth but so did Kiva and at least he intended to tell her. She’s just using his niceness to sneak into the capital.
3. I feel like the rebellion causes more unrest than it does good but maybe that was just the glimpse we got in this first book, maybe we’ll see some of the good stuff they’re doing (opposed to some bad stuff the royal family is doing) in the next books.
I do understand the association between what happened to Kiva & her family and Jaren but I need her to please understand that he was A CHILD and had nothing to do with it?? And she’s just using him:( anyway, unless she starts being more truthful with him, I feel like she can’t expect him to ever forgive her once the truth comes out lol. 
I honestly think they should just talk about it and get married and tada, the nation is reunited and old grudges can be buried🤩🤩 But that wouldn’t make for a good story, so I guess I’ll just have to be patient

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: N/A
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous mysterious tense fast-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

The Ending. My jaw is on the floor. The way I GASPED, oh my. I am speechless, this is the best plot twist I’ve read since Dark Rise. I truly, never, EVER saw it coming.

As for the rest of the book, I must say I was incredibly entertained by this story. It was really well paced for me, and even though sometimes I was desperate for action, I applaud how the author still managed to keep me interested. I really liked the characters as well, especially Naari the new loml! And Tipp, I will protect him with my life. 

I really liked this book, I’m so excited to read the next one because I know it’s gonna be so good— the angst, the betrayal, oh now that’s what I call a treat!

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