Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi

32 reviews

kayberlyn's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Drug abuse, Addiction, Slavery, Hate crime, Genocide, Blood, Racial slurs, Murder, Grief, Drug use, Child death, Alcohol, Child abuse, Death of parent, Chronic illness, and Racism

britreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This may become my new favorite series. At the very least, this is now one of my favorite books. The story didn't pick up for me until about 100 pages or around when Anoor and Sylah first meet one another. But after that point, the story sucked me in and took off at a gallop. 

I loved Anoor and Sylah's relationship and how they both pushed each other to be better than their original selves. I'm not usually a love triangle person and it is very easy to root for one pairing over the other in here, but I loved the complexity of Sylah's connection with Jond. Hassa was my favorite character and I wish there was more of her in the story. I'm curious to see what role she will play in the sequel. 

This world was also unique and evocative.

And now that Sylah is going to the mainland, I'm curious what the other countries/continents will look like.

The magic system was different, but not overpowered or unbalanced. Again, with the revelations that came out in the end, I am interested in how the magic system may evolve or regress in future installments. 

This novel will linger for a while. There are little character details that I appreciate and it makes me want to start the story again. The story is violent and heavy, so definitely check the content warnings before starting this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Blood

Moderate: Drug abuse, Child abuse, Grief, Child death, and Drug use

porcupine_girl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Grief, Toxic relationship, Colonisation, Drug abuse, War, Addiction, Blood, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Genocide, Violence, Body horror, Alcohol, Classism, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Slavery, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexual content, Child death, Child abuse, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Emotional abuse, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Medical content, Self harm, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Kidnapping, Ableism, Blood, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Dysphoria

Minor: Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, and Fire/Fire injury

sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Police brutality, Blood, Colonisation, Genocide, Classism, Death, Addiction, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Child death

Moderate: Alcohol, Confinement, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Vomit, and War

Minor: Bullying

thethingwithfeathers's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Slavery, Classism, Violence, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Addiction, and Drug use

Moderate: Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Murder

Minor: Death of parent, Child death, Genocide, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicidal thoughts

violinknitter's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Child abuse

Moderate: Violence, Blood, Slavery, Drug use, Child death, and Emotional abuse

lucyka's review

dark mysterious

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Fantastic book. Well written, dark, lots of thought provoking ideas and surprising twists and turns. Well developed love interests. Loved it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Police brutality and Addiction

Minor: Kidnapping and Child death

panic_at_the_bookshelf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

If you are looking for a fantasy book with plenty of amazing representation AND written by a black woman I highly recommend The Final Strife.

As soon as I finished the book I longed for the next one in the breathtaking The Ending Fire trilogy. The characters either made me love or hate them because of how human they felt. The hate did not come from finding it an annoying character. The characters were written out so well I despised them because of their horrible actions and/or beliefs. As if I was part of the story and ready to take them down. Each character had their strengths AND their flaws. 

This is not a typical female hero story. This is a story of pain, sadness and fighting a system filled with lies and dirty secrets to oppress the native people of the land. This is a story filled with fire, passion and dedication. It's filled with friendship and love. Most of all, it's filled with the courage one needs to stand up against a system of oppression. 

I do hope any person who is currently facing said oppression will find their well deserved freedom one day. May there be an ending fire to those who colonised and colonise. May we find the courage to stand up to any twisted system. 

Thank you, Saara, for refuelling my fire to raise my voice and find my inner Sylah, Hassa and Anoor.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Death, Addiction, Violence, Racism, Murder, Drug use, and Blood

Moderate: Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Child death

ewinnk's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Murder, Slavery, Death of parent, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual content, Violence, Ableism, Blood, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Grief, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, and Classism

arguhlincozzi's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

I loved this book! A map was at the heart of the story (a geographer's fav), critical discussions about justice and how to achieve it, plus more twists and turns than I anticipated! So excited for book two!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Abandonment, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Addiction, and Cursing