Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

City of Thorns by C.N. Crawford

9 reviews

becksus's review against another edition

challenging mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.5

Hmm this ain't it, but dunno what I was expecting either tbh. A lot of teasing and hinting but a disappointing peak.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Gun violence, Sexual content, Xenophobia, and Fire/Fire injury

crinkledmochi's review

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.25

i expected the twist at the end, but the story is interesting enough for me to want to continue. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Mental illness, Stalking, Torture, Xenophobia, Classism, Misogyny, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Confinement, Alcoholism, and Child abuse

Minor: Cannibalism, Gun violence, and War

anastashamarie's review

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

2.75

🗝️ Boring mortal girl (who's NotLikeOtherGirls, gets mad when other women say they are NotLikeOtherGirls, and is also irresistibly beautiful to the immortals, of course) uses the "knowledge" she gained in her intro to psychology class to outsmart a centuries-old sex demon into letting her stay in the forbidden demon city and into paying for her student loans. Hijinks ensue, helped further by mortal girl's intro to psychology class and the fact that she looks like a famous succubus (even when she, by all accounts, couldn't seduce her way out of a wet paper bag in the moral world). Did I hit most of the plot points?

🗝️ My primary issue with this is that it is far too fast-paced in a way that ruins any tension, romantic or otherwise, that might have been created through the story. Totally awkward to sexy in a week? Enemies to lovers but without anything believable to make me think that they were enemies in the first place? A big, dramatic action packed event (that was only an hour long) that only spanned a chapter because it still had cut scenes? Maybe I'm spoiled by my long and leisurely fantasy romance series of yore but I just didn't buy any of the action or romance here. 

🗝️ My secondary issue, as someone who has nearly-a-doctorate in a psychology adjacent field, is that the mentions of psychological manipulation play a huge role in the plot progression, and they very much read as if they were written by someone who has a generalist bachelor's in psych degree and who is too excited about it. (I would know, I was that person once upon a time.) This is probably more of a Me Problem, and it's probably not helped by me wanting things fleshed out more in general, but I found myself rolling my eyes multiple times and saying "okay, but that's not QUITE how that works." 

🗝️ Despite all those things, I'm interested enough in the plot that I'll probably read the next one. They're quick, easy reads and the premise is fun. I feel like the characters could still have a lot of depth and I'm hoping that some of my issues with the pacing will level out as I read on. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual content

Moderate: Confinement, Death of parent, and Murder

bedtimesandbooks's review

adventurous mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Child death, Alcohol, Classism, War, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, Cursing, Confinement, and Blood

brandie_abbie19's review

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, War, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, Blood, Child abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Slavery, Murder, Sexism, Violence, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual assault

anger566's review

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Sexual content

Moderate: Abandonment, Genocide, Death of parent, and Death

Minor: Sexual harassment and Vomit

laura_rheads_too_much's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Death of parent, Bullying, Gun violence, Sexual harassment, and Fire/Fire injury

prettynerdy3's review

adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Physical abuse, Alcohol, Blood, Confinement, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Stalking, and Vomit

ka_ke's review

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

City of Thorns is a solid read. It’s fast & entertaining with decent writing and substantial plot. It’s spicy but not overtly erotica. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, and Grief

Moderate: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content