Reviews tagging 'Grief'

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

111 reviews

sxndaze's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

3.25

It’s interesting to read from Nikolai and Zoya’s pov since we didn’t really get to explore their characters in the main trilogy. It’s always a treat to read from Nina’s and see where she’s at. It started off slow, and I can’t say I really cared until the second half of the book where the plot really picked up speed. I’m intrigued enough to continue because I’m already so invested in the world and the characters, but the book is okay for me. The writing is definitely wonderful though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Drug use and Animal death

caitlin_123a's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Kidnapping

Minor: Grief and Death

prettynerdy3's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Grief, Trafficking, Violence, War, and Child death

Moderate: Medical trauma, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Violence, Addiction, Child abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Slavery, and War

maddiebo97's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

UGH i loved it

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Trafficking

Minor: War, Violence, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Vomit, Sexism, Miscarriage, and Grief

math_scooter's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

5.0

Leigh Bardugo er muligvis vores tids bedste forfatter fr. Jeg elskede at læse om de diplomatiske problematikker og de realistiske forhold mellem landende mere end jeg havde troet jeg ville. Mathias forevigt i mit hjerte, og Isaak vil ikke blive glemt.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Grief, Animal death, War, Kidnapping, Blood, Addiction, Drug abuse, Violence, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Miscarriage, Alcohol, Genocide, Confinement, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Suicide

jessicaludden's review against another edition

adventurous funny 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

3.5

“He was not the crying child or even the drowning man. He was the forever soldier, eternally at war, unable to ever lay down his arms and heal.”

I loved being back in the Grishaverse and seeing what these characters are up to now. I loved the politics in this and there were definitely some plot twists I didn’t see coming. I really liked learning more about Nikolai and Zoya especially because we really didn’t get a lot from them in the books before. Of course I loved seeing Nina again, even if it meant hurting my heart every time she mentioned Matthias. 

But I did feel like there was some pacing issues which caused a disconnect with the characters and the plot. I just couldn’t get into it and never really cared a huge amount about the characters. It was very slow in some parts and very repetitive which often left me feeling like I was reading parts that were unnecessary to the character and plot development. But overall, I’m excited to read the next one!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexism, Abandonment, Blood, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Miscarriage, Drug abuse, Grief, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Pregnancy

joensign'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Gore, and Grief

Moderate: Confinement, Drug use, Addiction, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

marine2907's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Hate crime, Murder, Addiction, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Animal cruelty, Blood, Violence, Body horror, Misogyny, and Trafficking

mariebrunelm's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful 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

4.75

It's been almost three years since the event of Ruin & Rising (which I haven't read, more on that later) and most of Ravka and beyond is still reeling from the consequences. In the middle of it, King Nikolai battles enemies within and without, Nina is on a quest for solace that leads her to discover nefarious plans from Fjerda, and Zoya lets her armour crack.

I am in awe of Bardugo's writing. She manages to put so much heart and character quirks in an engaging narrative that kept me turning the pages. I have to admit that it took me a long, long time to really get into the book because even with careful information-dropping to fill me in on what had happened before, I could feel that I hadn't read the books in which some essential characters are introduced (mostly Nikolai and Zoya, in the Shadow & Bone trilogy).

Once I'd gathered enough info on them, however, I could completely relax into the story and let myself be carried away. I love Leigh Bardugo's writing style and character studies, it's perhaps not the most subtle but it's banter and sass at their best and it's a joy to read.

Rep: fat, bisexual MC. Disabled author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Sexism, Pregnancy, and Grief

Moderate: Drug abuse

jessiereads98's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

Really torn between a 3.5 and 3.75 on this one. A good addition to the Grishaverse. Solid themes and a compelling story overall. The world remains expansive and sucks you in as we’ve come to expect from the Grishaverse, with interesting domestic and foreign politics. While they have similar themes and are obviously working towards the same big thing in the next book, I’m just not sure Nina’s story belonged with what was billed as Nikolai’s story. In this book the two were nearly completely separate and it was a bit jarring switching back and forth. The ending is obviously full of cliffhangers for the second book and some of this throughout felt so obviously like set up for the next book or future entries in the Grishaverse. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Gore, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Genocide, Medical content, Miscarriage, and Animal death

Minor: Alcohol, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Slavery, Child abuse, Confinement, Misogyny, Sexism, Classism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, and War