Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

King of Flesh and Bone by Liv Zander

14 reviews

thewenzl's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Religious bigotry, Torture, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Confinement

Minor: War

bangiebangs's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad fast-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

This is a really hard one to review. It is dark, like all the CWs apply here. It does contain sexual assault and rape in pretty much all its forms. And yes, I agree with another review that it really reminds me of Laura Thalassa's Pestilence as well.

Are there redeeming qualities? Not if you don't want to read about SA. Skip this book, truly. For me, it was the first one that really went there, but I still liked the story overall. It doesnt break any ground (monstrous MMC, an FMC who is dropped into his clutches, and slow enemies to lovers, the tortured man rescued by a kind woman, etc).

The reason I can still enjoy the book is probably that the rape scenes aren't truly fleshed out - we get the mechanics, we don't get a lot of description of how it feels (beyond "my ass still hurts") or the fallout (ie. how does Ada feel afterwards, what physical and mental effects are there). This doesn't diminish what happens, of course, but it does make it much easier to focus on the slow process of her seeing more of him and gaining some understanding. (Fwiw, the worst part for me was her reaction to him "twisting" her legs - so much more palpable, and gave me more of a visceral reaction).

In order for this all to work I think you have to understand that people (especially women) do have rape fantasies, and that that is ok. To be clear, it is *not* ok to actually rape someone, but fantasizing about that is just something that many people do. (I'm explicitly excluding cis men or people who actually want to sexually assault somebody and talking about a sexual fantasy here). I think it's legitimate to suspend disbelief and enjoy the book for what it is: an enemies to lovers rape fantasy, even if it is not something I'd want to read uncritically (meaning without acknowledging the rape, and accepting that this can still be a turn on... as a fantasy.) And because it is a fantasy, a dark one at that, it's acceptable that this is not CNC but actual non con.

With that out of the way: the pacing is pretty good, though feels a tad hurried at times (it's not a long book). The dialogue... eh. His blunt way of talking about fucking her sometimes took me out of the story a little, mainly because he otherwise talks like a being that has lost touch with humanity and isn't particularly modern. But ok.
The world-building was great, super interesting take! Also enough mystery left for book 2.

I'm curious about the brothers... like, the god of whispers seems as horrible as the MMC

.

Recommended if you liked Pestilence, dark romance, rape fantasy and dont mind gore and violence. Explicitly not for you if you mind any of that and/or graphic descriptions of death and decay (incl children)

or violent child death - though that's the cliffhanger so not sure how that will actually work out

. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Torture, Vomit, Alcohol, Child death, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Terminal illness, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death of parent, Chronic illness, and Religious bigotry

drduck's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Slavery, Death, Rape, Vomit, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

lexareadsaalatte's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

2.0

 Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Check trigger warnings.

As much as I wasn't a fan of this book, I couldn't stop as I have a self-problem with DNF.

It's Dark. That's fine. But like, remember it's d a r k. Abusive level. And that became a big part of the story and overshadowed plot.

I liked the premise of the story and it being different enough that I wanted to continue reading. But Enosh just is problematic beyond dark

My Rating System:
5 ★ Masterfully created work of art with many strong qualities. Will re-read. Cannot imagine my life without it. Devastated it is over.
4 ★ Solid Work. Enjoyed from beginning to end.
3 ★ Decent with poor execution in some manner. Neutral.
2 ★ Wasn't good but not completely bad. Only 1 or 2 redeeming qualities
1 ★ DNF and/or no redeeming qualities

Join Me On Booktok at LexaReadsALatte
Join Me On Bookstagram at LexaReadsALatte 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Infertility, Child death, and Pregnancy

Minor: Animal death

littlewitch_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Rape, Sexual content, Body horror, and Torture

Moderate: Child death, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Murder, and Miscarriage

Minor: Vomit

shinyfox's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Murder, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Body horror, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, War, and Suicide

Minor: Animal death

Dubcon/noncon, child birth

frantically's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This is for all us who liked the Feysand scenes from Under the Mountain a little too much 😉 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Child death and War

lucindanorine's review against another edition

dark emotional tense 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

3.25

I saw this book on tiktok and immediately wanted to read it. And once I saw the audiobook on netgalley I requested it and was so excited when it hit my library! I loved this book, it took me a little longer to get into it. But I did enjoy it and I'm excited for book two

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, War, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

reverieparacosm's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Gaslighting, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Body horror, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexism, Stalking, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War

Minor: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

gnlee26's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Infertility, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Body horror, and Injury/Injury detail