Reviews tagging 'Death'

His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik

25 reviews

sydthewitch's review against another edition

adventurous emotional fast-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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Violence, and War

Minor: Kidnapping, Gun violence, Misogyny, Alcohol, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Colonisation, and Classism

ladypalutena's review against another edition

adventurous 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

It is truly remarkable that every one of Naomi Novik's series has a very different tone. Her two fairy tale retellings (Uprooted and Spinning Silver) are different from the Scholomance, and the first book in the  Temeraire series reads like Jane Austen wrote it. 

I have seen these books on the shelf at Barnes & Noble, and I've been interested because if you put the spines together, they make a dragon scene. I finally picked up this first book, since I finished the Scholomance earlier this year, and this is an excellent book. 

It's a retelling of the Napoleonic Wars, but with DRAGONS. What more can you want? I will admit that it was a little hard to get into at first, because I had to get reacquainted with a way of writing I haven't come across since I took a graduate class on Jane Austen (that's my fault; I've been reading things written in the last hundred years or so, not from the 1800s). Novik does an incredible job of mimicking the Austen style, and my husband, who's a huge Master and Commander fan, may end up picking these up at some point as well. 

I keep wavering on how to rate it, so I think I'll settle for the baseline of a four - it was an interesting story, there were some parts that felt rushed (it's a very short book!), and there were a few parts that were unclear (at one point, a character is hanged for treason. I had no idea he was killed until other characters were talking about it a few pages later. It's a poorly written scene. Gives me big "Wait, did Jet just die?" vibes). Overall, a very interesting retelling and enough for me to maybe want to buy the whole box set because they'd look great on my shelf. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Death and Blood

Minor: Animal cruelty, Alcohol, and Sexism

miraclesnow's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted 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

Breathtakingly emotional and deeply moving characters in this one. A pity I don’t have the next book in my hands as I write this review, I need it like I need air to breathe.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Blood, Animal death, War, and Death

Moderate: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

Minor: Sexism

beanaroni's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, War, Blood, Murder, Death, Violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Classism

velvetsilk42's review

adventurous funny hopeful relaxing slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death, War, and Violence

themoonshoes's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.0

how this book hasn’t gotten an adaptation yet is beyond me. i do not want that to happen though

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Gore, Grief, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

readingelli's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Violence

Treason, betrayal

arrono's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.5

It's a good book! I like how the author explores the concept of the world in depth, with a fair amount of care and research into the implications of the oddities of their world.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death and Death

Minor: Blood, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and War

o_romeo'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Death, and Animal death

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Gun violence, and Grief

Minor: Classism, Confinement, Misogyny, and Injury/Injury detail

sarmckay's review against another edition

adventurous funny tense fast-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood and Gore

Minor: Death