Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross

25 reviews

jonghyun4life's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

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

2.0

Not what I expected. A total let down compared to the first installment. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Death, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Stalking, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Addiction

sariereads's review

adventurous 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Gun violence, Torture, War, Death, Confinement, Genocide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Violence, Terminal illness, Murder, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual content

aliceloyallaleon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Medical content, Murder, Violence, Torture, Car accident, War, Blood, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Death of parent, Grief, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Sexual assault

katelyn11's review

dark emotional slow-paced

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

2.5

After Divine Rivals, this was a sore disappointment. Slow-moving with little to contribute to the plot or character development. I simply didn’t care about any part of the world or Iris and Roman’s romance. There were a couple of good chapters (chapter 35 did NOT live up to the hype) but it mostly felt like a slog. I finished it only to say I’ve finished it and to read the conclusion of Iris and Roman’s story. I was bored most of the time. The villain wasn’t compelling; the world wasn’t magical; the side characters were unconvincing fillers; there was far too much exposition rather than good storytelling. This is not Ross’ finest work. Also, the editing seemed rushed, as I found at least one spelling error and several punctuation/spacing errors within the narrative. Read The Queen Rising if you want to read Ross’ finer work. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Violence, and War

Moderate: Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Genocide, Kidnapping, and Abandonment

erinkellyreads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

 Heartbreaking and tense and lovely, this duology is easily in my top reads from the last few years. I saw a joke on Instagram that "Divine Rivals" is to Swift's Folklore as "Ruthless Vows" is to Swift's Evermore, and, yes, I feel this, haha.

In terms of differences between this and it's predecessor, the stakes are higher and so is the tension. I had to take a couple of breaks from it while reading it simply because I was nervous for the characters and was putting off any potential pain. However, the bonds between all of the character continue, and we add in a few more interesting connections between existing and new characters. The one thing that I didn't love was the final showdown feeling too quick (and not necessarily easy, but... I think you'll see what I mean when you get there). I've seen other people saying that they felt DR was slow, but I didn't feel that way. If you did feel that way, I think you won't for RV.

Overall, the beauty of the writing and the atmospheric nature of the world and the souls of our characters are stunning, and I would 100% recommend this duology to anybody. A fantasy book that feels like contemporary history, a war book that feels like poetry, and a love story that feels like releasing a breath on a sunny, windy day. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, War, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Chronic illness, Medical content, Blood, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

Minor: Vomit

gphemsley's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Kidnapping, Blood, Genocide, Violence, Death, Confinement, War, and Murder

Minor: Alcoholism and Sexual content

caitsliteraryadventures's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Grief, Death, Alcoholism, Kidnapping, Murder, and Death of parent

meganfuhr's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious relaxing sad tense fast-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

5.0

Going back into the world of Divine Rivals was fabulous!
With Roman forgetting everything we are thrown into a whole new ballgame of intrigue, getting to see what life is like from the view of Darce's Soldier's as opposed to the front lines for Enva.
I loved everything about this book, now, that being said, I did cry a lot during it, so be warned, being some tissues.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Medical content, Murder, Confinement, Gore, Body horror, Medical trauma, War, Gaslighting, Death, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Abandonment, Genocide, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Slavery, Stalking, and Vomit

Moderate: Abandonment, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Blood, Alcohol, Cursing, and Confinement

nicjmorrow's review

adventurous hopeful sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

This is such a good sequel. Maybe even better than the first. Darker. And more tense. Ross is such a poetic and beautiful writer and I love how she writes love. A new fav author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, War, Kidnapping, Blood, and Death

kinsportch's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Grief, Gun violence, War, Violence, Death, Genocide, and Blood

Moderate: Torture and Kidnapping