Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - A Shadow Crown

Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

A Shadow Crown by Melissa Blair

12 reviews

datgirllani's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? No

5.0

“There was something achingly beautiful about knowing that he was the only one to see me entirely, my scars, my past, my names, while I was the only one who had seen him. We were both people who had receded into our pain, hiding ourselves away, only to find a refuge in each other. How could I ever want anyone else but him?”. I absolutely adored the first book and this one did not disappoint either. While reading, I could really feel Keera’s hurt and the influence of how hard it was for her to try to make peace with the Elverin. While romance does play a role in the book it is not the key note here. Though those few moments we get certainly make up for it. Seeing how the relationships between Keera (the main character) and Riven, Nikolai, and Syrra become more close and intimate was one of my favorite things to read. We get to see many new sides of Keera as she deals with love, loss, hurt and acceptance. The writing is very nice. I love how the author turns what could have been a few simple words into a deep, impactful sentence. I could go on and on about how much I love this book, series, and author. Please give it a read!

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cryosphinx's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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

4.25

I really enjoyed A Broken Blade, and was happy to find that A Shadow Crown improved on almost all aspects. I'd say it's slower paced with less action but there is a lot of focus on Keera and his history and healing journey and because of that, it grows apart from being overly tropey like the first book was but it does suffer from being slow since there's a lot of relationship building. This series warms my heart and the found family is one of the best I've read in this genre. While still not super unique, there's enough differences from other books in the genre that I still find it wholly entertaining and captivating.

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_alyssar_'s review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.0

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ljp817's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

5.0

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lilhappyhermit's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

This continuation of Keera’s story was so beautiful. The obstacles she faces, both circumstantial and personal, was such an emotional journey. She allows herself to be venerable with those around her, regarding her history with grief and guilt, as she tries to find out more about her origins. The circumstances around her, while this deep diving occurs, became more intense as the story progressed and had me at the edge of my seat.

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starrysteph's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-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

3.75

Okay Melissa Blair!! A Shadow Crown starts RIGHT where A Broken Blade left off - and in my opinion, adds much more depth to the world and characters.

Keera is bound to serve the king as his Blade - his top killer and spy. But she’s secretly been working against him, with his youngest son Prince Killian and the Shadow, Riven (whom she may just be falling for). They’re conspiring to defeat the immortal ruler once and for all and bring safety back to the kingdom.

But not everyone is trustworthy, and plans are thwarted one by one. Keera has to protect her people, find a potential spy, and navigate the depths of her own grief while uncovering the truth of her own identity.

I appreciate how accessible and engaging this series is. I think Blair’s writing has already improved tremendously from book one, and the pacing worked perfectly for me here. The overall arc of A Shadow Crown is much slower than the action-packed A Broken Blade, but there were still interesting things happening during each bite-sized chapter. I particularly enjoyed some new side characters, including earnest librarian Vrail.

This readability allows for brilliant overarching themes such as colonization, racism, trauma & grief, addiction, identity, and so much more to be highlighted and ingrained in every aspect of the world and characters.

There were a few plot stumbles for me - mostly around Keera’s judgment and intellect (which I felt took a big dip here when compared with her decision-making in book one). I also felt like the writing was a bit awkward and clunky at times, and occasionally the tropey elements were overused without any clever subversions or fresh angles.

But there were so many captivating moments here - a few explosive battle scenes, but mostly a lot of emotional heart and growth and learning to live through loss and trauma.

And the ending?! I can’t wait for book three.

CW: colonization, death, violence, self harm, murder, grief, confinement, gore, war, injury, genocide, abuse, slavery, suicidal thoughts, torture, fire, abandonment, addiction, mental health, racism, sexual violence, sexual content

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(I received an advance reader copy of this book; this is my honest review.)

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beckyyreadss's review against another edition

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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

4.0

I loved the first book in this series and I was so excited to read carry on with the series. I really hope I don’t have to wait long for some announcement of the third or even fourth book in this series because these cliff hangers are getting meaner and meaner.

This book still follows Keera, who we met in the last book. To the kingdom, she is still chasing the Shadow and she is the King’s blade, his most feared and trusted spy and assassin. But in the shadows, she works with Prince Killian and his Shadow – the dark and brooding Fae, Riven – who sets her blood on fire. Together, they are plotting to topple the crown that sits upon the king’s head. A secret can only survive as long as its conspirators, and when nothing is as it seems, all are in danger. Keera swore she would never open her heart again after a loss she barely survived. But she will soon find she has more to lose than she ever imagined.

This book is as thrilling as the first book with the details and action keeping you on the edge of your seat. I loved Keera and I'm scared of her, I want to be her, and she can hit me and I would say thank you - I loved that we got to know more about her and I love her bisexual rep and was nearly crying when she was talking about Brenna and how she is determined not to lose anyone else. I still adore the found family aspect in this book and how it was strengthened during this book and how everyone started to defend Keera and they were all fighting for each other. The storyline was strong and I loved all of these characters (minus Damian – he's a dick and I hope he has a slow and painful death)

I just wanted more during this book, I felt like at times there was an information overload and then some information was just glossed over. I felt it was a little repetitive with the information we knew about and I get why it was done for the people who read the first book when it first came out but I was just skimming those bits because I already knew the background information. Some of the big twists were a bit predictable – like I guessed who the mole was, and what happened to the light fae and who was going to be the big bad guy.

I enjoyed this book and was hoping for it to be five stars, but I was just wanting more. I will still be refreshing social media and keeping an eye on the book community world to see if there will be a third book and when it will be released.

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noellelovesbooks's review against another edition

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5.0

Content Warnings: Sexual situations, violence, murder, death, confinement, self harm, addiction, sexual violence, sexual harassment, and suicidal thoughts.

Wow. Just wow.

Ever since I read book one I knew I needed more. I needed to see more of Keera's journey and hopefully some happiness.

This book gives us so much...I spend most of today just glued to its pages.

There were ups and downs, surprises, betrayals, and so much more. This volume had me extremely emotional from beginning to end. I will always root for Keera and her happiness 😭

With as emotional and this book made me...I equally am excited and scared of what volume 3 will bring us. 😅

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kowhaiii's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging 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

4.0

Fantastic. Much more character focused than the last book, which is great because these characters are wonderful! I can't wait for book three. The worldbuilding is so enthralling and it feels so tangible on the pages. The characters really drive it home for me and we get some backstory for them all in this book. Yay!

I do have a few bones to pick with this installent of the series, unfortunately. There are quite a few typos and simple mistakes in this book, which was surprising considering how polished the previous one was. I was sometimes confused by the sentences and had to reread them a few times, and in places the writing was simply incorrect. This took away from the reading experience for me. I'm a stickler for spelling errors and grammar mistakes, alas.

I have mixed feelings on the ending of this book. No spoilers, but there is a big reveal that I didn't think was foreshadowed in a satisfying way. To me the ending was a bit rushed and felt disjointed from the remainder of the narrative. The ending made sense in theory, but is just didn't feel "right", for lack of a better word. Definitely the weakest point in the story for me. I understand fast pacing, but as a reader I needed more time to digest the newly revealed information before the big finale kicked off. Overall this book was great and tore at my heartstrings in all the best ways. I think the ending was a bit of a let down and thus this book pales in comparison compared to A Broken Blade. Great series, great author, and I cannot wait for the next one!

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kat1105's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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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