Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

46 reviews

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Toxic friendship, War, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Animal death, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Violence, Stalking, Torture, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Confinement, Classism, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Murder

Minor: Child death and Death of parent

jstar1's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective 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: Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Blood, War, Bullying, Torture, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Animal death, Violence, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Murder, Self harm, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Death of parent and Sexual content

literarydumpling's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-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

Absolutely loved the pacing of the book, and it established the fantasy system that the Grishaverse lives in really well. At first my head was spinning from all the different words and terms being thrown around, but once you get further into the book, the explanations are naturally given so it isn't one big lore unload in the beginning.

You can see how this book starts the entire Shadow and Bone trilogy and it's an incredibly strong start from the plot, characters and lore/setting. A great read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Minor: Torture

sginnaw's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Violence, Genocide, Gun violence, Animal death, Classism, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Torture, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, War, and Emotional abuse

readerorwateva's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Death of parent, War, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Rape, Suicide, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Slavery, Child abuse, and Torture

noras_library's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

This book made me feel more than any book has made me feel in a long time. The idea of the book is amazing and the execution is perfect. I loved the writing style.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Violence, Death, Gore, Slavery, Murder, Blood, and Animal death

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Child death, and War

Minor: Sexual content

toastyghosty13's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.0

i watched part of the netflix series last year and then stopped close to the end of the first season once i learned it was based on a book series. i liked the series enough and adore ben barnes so i kept it on my TBR list. 

i did really enjoy this and found it difficult to put down once i picked it up. it took me about 2 days to read through it completely. there are twists and turns, plus the world is so interesting that i just want to learn more. 

i will say that i found alina a bit annoying in the book but loved her in the show. she seemed so self conscious in the book which irked me because the actress in the show is so full of confidence and did a great job. 

i also feel critical of the differences between the tv show and book versions of mal and the darkling. 

the darkling in the show was much more interesting to me as a character, but quite bland for me in the book. in the show it was not as obvious that

he’s the baddy

but in the book it was practically screaming that with every appearance he made. in the show, i wanted to see more of the darkling

and was actually surprised and upset that he ended up being evil. i am still holding out hope for a redemption in the rest of the tv series, though i’m also not sure that i care that much about him in the book besides being curious about what his fate is after being left in the fold. i’m also wondering if there is some bigger motive or player behind all of this.

for mal, i found him extremely annoying in the show and much more endearing in the book. i wanted to see more of mal in the book and would groan whenever i saw him in the show. at the very least, this makes me excited for the next book with the way this one left off. 

i was also frustrated that

there was no mention of how if you spare the life of the stag it could grant you a wish. i was fully expecting that to happen as the main solution to alina wearing the collar rather than some self realization that she could have made at any time prior to entering the fold. it felt a little cheap as the big hero moment that turns the tides.

i am surprised at

how many of the soldiers and grisha knew about the darklings plans and just went along with it. you would think some would be adverse to war, or even just attempt to stage a coup if they were so unhappy with the way the king rules. instead, they chose to completely wipe out a city of innocent people and will probably be at fault and responsible for the death and gruesome demise of countless others.

overall i did enjoy this but not as much as i thought i would. i have plenty of complaints about the characters and plot. however, i am still fully invested and plan on reading all of the books from the series and the two spin-off series’. it is still absolutely worth the time and is an exciting story that is difficult to pause once you have begun. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Kidnapping, Torture, Murder, Blood, Animal death, War, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Sexual harassment, and Fire/Fire injury

discogecko's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring tense fast-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: Animal death, Blood, War, Violence, Murder, and Genocide

Moderate: Gaslighting and Slavery

Minor: Gun violence and Torture

zoejjj's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Reading this for the first time in 2023 is such a fun trip because this book is the PINNACLE of 2014 writing.  From the “she’s not as pretty as other girls” to the hot, powerful guy being being uncontrollably in love with her - it’s such a throwback. 

Having read the author’s more current books (ninth house gave me abs from how tense I was) it’s so interesting to see where she started. This book is fun when you don’t take it too seriously and you just let it be a ya fantasy. The bones of it are fantastic. Overall, good book even if I’m not sure I’d re read it

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Content Warnings

Minor: Violence, Sexual harassment, War, Toxic relationship, and Torture

abookwormspov's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Torture, War, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Slavery

Minor: Sexual assault