Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

56 reviews

onefineelephant's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

7/10. I think the magic system and even the political system are interesting. However, I usually hate love triangles and this is no exception. I typically love the friends-to-lovers trope but Mal kind of sucks at the beginning. Like, who would sleep with a ton of girls when you're actually in love with your best friend the whole time?? I like Mal more by the end. Also, them confessing their feelings wasn't satisfying at all and fell kind of flat. I think that the character of the Darkling is super fascinating and complex, which I love. I am not a fan of Alina which is really unfortunate because she's the main character - but this is because she is TOO MUCH of a main character. She just wants to fit in when she clearly is unique, she is a peasant in high society, she only has one friend and doesn't get along with other girls (aka she's not like other girls), and she won't kill when it is absolutely necessary. The dialogue is kind of so bad that it's good. Like it's very bad but most of the time it made me laugh because of how bad it is instead of making me say "this is stupid." The ending was awful, in my opinion. I know there are more books in the series but the events of the last 50 pages made me say "what the f is this?" about 8 times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Genocide, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and War

Minor: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment

Self harm and suicidal ideation are mentioned but not acted on. Also, there is an attempted sexual assault but it does not progress further.

katievallin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Gun violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Child death and Death of parent

georgiaaa's review against another edition

adventurous 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, and War

Minor: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Rape, Death of parent, and Classism

aliceloyallaleon's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail

kat_andherbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.0

it's 6 in the morning, I haven't slept and I'm bawling my eyes out over Mal's letters. given that it was written in 2012, I'll cut it some slack, but Alina is wayyy too predictable for my liking. I hate the typical love triangle with the best friend and the bad guy, she's giving off big pick me energy. I love Mal, he's really sweet and he definitely deserves better. Alina's narrative is too tiring for me, her inner monologue seems repetitive and it's tiresome. 
I'm not as eager to get into the next book as I'd thought I would be :/

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Sexual harassment

soph22's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Slavery, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, and Classism

Minor: Sexual assault, Violence, Sexual harassment, and War

bugzandthingz's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail

lujisa's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and War

Moderate: Suicide, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

_piercingwords_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Now I wanna say that I watched the show before reading this book, so I was spoilered which took the fun out of it a bit. (The show is a very good adaption thoug and stayed pretty close to this storyline, even though it is combined with Six of Crows duology)

It was... Fine. But it felt like a typical YA fantasy book and I read the Six of Crows duology first, which caught me a lot more. One who expects an equal to it may be a bit disappointed. Also not a huge fan of first person narrated stories.

Overall still an enjoyable read, if I get the chance I will read the other parts, the storyline has potential.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping and Gaslighting

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Violence, Murder, and War

Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, and Death of parent

leahmaslin's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape