Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

31 reviews

trintrin's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.25

I'm so confused? It got me hooked right from the beginning which definitely says something because not even Six of Crows managed to do that and it's one of my all time favs. I'm aware it's because I already know and love these characters but-

THE CHARACTERS!!!
Man I was already in love with Nikolai and Zoya and this is not helping!! Nikolai was the sole reason I picked up this book, and I enjoyed every bit of him. I did not expect to love Zoya's POVs but girl snatched my wig fr. I would die for these two at any given time istg. Isaak, you sweetheart, you stole my heart, and so did Hanne. And Nina, of course, I was beginning to worry she didn't contribute as much as she did in SoC, but she pulled through towards the very end. One more thing, I wanted to see Nikolai doing more king-y stuff. I wanted to see him in court. I wanted to see him rule. I wanted to see more of Sturmhond, more of the too-clever-fox, more of him charming people and just doing the Nikolai thing. By the looks of it, it will get more political in Rule of Wolves and I can't wait for that!

I have a love/hate relationship with the multiple callbacks to the previous books. Like yes I was nearly squirming with joy and even in tears at one point every time a throwaway reference to Kaz or Jesper or Alina were made but also they felt a little too much- a little overdone at times. They almost got me wanting to go back to those old characters instead of going forwards with the story, but the character dynamics were god tier so I'll ignore this one.

The plot
I was very surprised when I realised the first 2/3rd - aka the sloooow part where pretty much nothing happens - was actually my favourite. Felt like that's where the characters shined the most. And then after that it was just uhhhh???

I wasn't really vibing with the whole Saints in the Fold thing but yay go Zoya the dragon ig? And I'm absolutely 1000% not a fan of reviving the Darkling or the monster inside Nikolai for that matter at all. Reviving characters in general tends to feel very cheap. Reviving villains who were firmly put to an end is on a whole other level of cheapness and I absolutely cannot handle that. Nina's plot line, which was my least favourite in the first half, was my most favourite in the end. I wanna see more of whatever drugs the Fjerdans cooked up and more of Hanne as well.

It did get super interesting in the last like 5 pages and I'm excited to see how that plot will be continued in RoW. Fingers-crossed it's better than this one. 

So yeah an exciting-but-confusing-but-still-got-you-wanting-the-sequel read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Grief, Pregnancy, Addiction, Drug abuse, Blood, Death, and Drug use

Moderate: Animal death, Religious bigotry, Murder, and War

Minor: Child death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Vomit, and Sexism

spaghettii's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Suicide, War, Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Child death, Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gun violence, Violence, Addiction, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Sexism, Death, Drug use, and Torture

shahdhazem's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This started off as really bad for me as I went through I was getting more and more disappointed about certain characters and the whole plot of the book but the last bit of the book was such a nice surprise. I was honestly thinking of giving it a 3 star because at the start it was very plain no story literally got no new info about nikolai and ravka than what I already knew from shadow and bone but I adore nikolai very much so I was just pushing on for him. Also I want to mention that I hate leigh for messing up Nina's character like that she's soo different from what she was in six of crows and I know some will say because of a certain tragic event but I honestly don't think that this event should've changed her completely no on the contrary. Also her chapters lacked any connection to nikolai's and zoya's chapters which was irritating. Last thing I'll come to the bit I liked which was the plot twists in the end that were literally mind blowing for me they were really well enacted and I gave a whole star for that and I have kind of some high hopes for rule of the wolves.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Animal death, Forced institutionalization, and Pregnancy

Minor: Miscarriage

jupitermond's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Addiction, and Death

Moderate: Miscarriage, Trafficking, Pregnancy, Child death, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, and Child abuse

ehmannky'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

Another really fun addition to the Grishaverse! I loved Zoya and Nikolai their storyline the most, and it's just really interesting to see what happens to a universe after the heroes save the day. 

It did take me a bit to get into Nina's portion of the story, and I'm happy that it seems like she's going to get with Hanne or at least be open to love again. I don't know, it felt like I would have liked to see more of her discovering a sense of purpose before getting feelings, but that's just a personal preference. I think that her being a hot mess actually is completely in line with her character. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Grief, Forced institutionalization, and Drug use

nenya's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.25

I read this book after having read the Six of Crows duology, being excited to continue the Grishaverse. I would not say that I was disappointed but it wasn't entirely what I had expected. The only crow it focusses on is Nina Zenik (who is an icon, I love her with all my heart, don't get me wrong) which is amazing, because she is so developed, driven by her grief and ready to seek revenge -

it is beyond fulfilling to see her get it not only for her but also for the dead women and children by having them speak their truth and avenge themselves through her power

, but I did wish for some insight of how the other crows have been going on. Apart from that, the plot was great and the writing very true to Bardugo but I do feel like it can not entirely match the atmosphere and brilliance of Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom. Nevertheless, the ending took some turns I did not expect and left me pretty shocked. I'm most definitely excited to read the sequel!  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Murder, Sexism, Slavery, Medical content, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Racism, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Xenophobia, Violence, War, Addiction, Misogyny, Drug use, Gaslighting, and Torture

Moderate: Confinement, Miscarriage, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Infertility, Suicide, Alcohol, Terminal illness, Abandonment, and Vomit

sammymilfort's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, and War

boba_n_books's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

This was a nice addition to the Grishaverse. I did find myself gravitating toward one storyline over the other, but by and large, I enjoyed them all.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Gore, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Racism

michaelferlazzo's review

adventurous dark 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? Yes

5.0

This is the best one yet in the grishaverse 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Kidnapping, and Murder

her's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

Minor: Animal death