Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Bright and the Pale by Jessica Rubinkowski

6 reviews

lktx's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Bright & the Pale is Jessica Rubinkowski’s debut novel, a YA fantasy inspired by Russian folklore. The reader follows Valeria, a teenager in the Thieves’ Guild, on a mission that leads her returning to her home a decade after she escaped a magical freeze.

The world is dark and tragic, as it Valaria’s life so far. Her people are slaughtered by the tsar, rounded up into prisons, and she lost her Guild partner, Alik, the year before. Along the journey, she unravels the truth about how and why she was chosen for this trip back to Knnot Mountain. A large chunk of the book takes place inside the caves of a mountain and as someone with claustrophobia, I felt the fear the characters had at times.

I thought all the characters were complex, with the exception of one at the very end, an almost comically stereotypical antagonist, “waxen skin” and all.

I listened to the audiobook and while I thought the narrator, Carlotta Brentan, did a good job overall, there were times the tone was almost whiny. Other than that, I enjoyed the voice she used for Val’s character, though some of the others could use some work. The audiobook is about 9 hours, a nice length, and it kept me hanging on to find out what happened next until the VERY end. The last sentence is banger. I immediately put the sequel, Wrath & Mercy, into my queue.

Pros:

• Interesting world full of ice and snow, dark and very obviously inspired by Russia. I also loved the addition of Adaman, inspired by Mongolia.
• Love that the YA trope of the hero’s birth was flipped on its head and it felt like watching the birth of a villain.
• The love interest is a nice departure from genre tropes–no love triangles or anything except two teens into each other but having a really hard time admitting it to the other, for their own reasons that make sense.

Cons:

• I thought the middle/Act 2 dragged a lot and it made me wonder if the book was originally too long and got cut into a duology.
• Aforementioned stereotypical antagonist.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Moderate: Genocide, Racism, and Violence

karapillar's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Stalking, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Animal death, Blood, Abandonment, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, and Violence

kirstenf's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Violence

Moderate: Genocide

criticalbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Murder, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Violence, Grief, and Gaslighting

sarahsbooklife's review

adventurous sad 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

Started off slow but got better as the book went on. There was a bit of a dip in the middle when things slowed down and the group reached the mountain. But the pace suddenly picked up and the ending was really good. I'm definitely excited to see where the story will go in the next book and what will happen to the characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Infidelity

Moderate: Grief, Violence, Abandonment, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Murder

Minor: Grief, Kidnapping, Misogyny, and War

egurgens's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.25

First of all: I absolutely loved this book. The idea, the execution, is just fantastic. Plot twists, political plots, gods, monsters, some horror, romance, family, ugh. Just so good. The only thing that I struggled with is that there was a lot of down time

the mountain

where there could have been more plot. Also Valerias main character trait is her anger, which sorta makes sense, but I would’ve liked some more variation. I definitely need the next book, like, now. But it doesn’t come out until next March 😥

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Genocide, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Slavery, Trafficking, Torture, Violence, and War