Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

The Praetorian Trials by N.E. Davenport

32 reviews

taroroot's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-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

5.0

Ikenna is brilliant and I can't wait to read the The Blood Gift!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Murder, Misogyny, Sexism, Gun violence, Racism, Grief, Blood, Xenophobia, Torture, Cannibalism, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Transphobia, Classism, and Alcohol

Minor: Death of parent

hollyk's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-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

HOW DOES THIS NOT HAVE MORE READS???? Genuinely astounded. This is so good, it goes places other fantasy books with similar presences do not go. Some of the world-building is shaky and a bit cloudy/confusing, but with the more you read the easier it is to grasp. I would also say this is more new adult than young adult.

Ikenna is an absolute badass. She's also flawed, and I like that she's hotheaded, impulsive, and doesn't back down. Her resilience is commendable and I think she's incredibly complex. She shows a lot of growth, but I also think a lot of other characters show growth as well, which I think can often get lost in other books. Several characters have some big changes and I am glad to see that growth. 

The pacing is a little slow at first, but once the Trials start, they Start™. One of the twists is kind of obvious, but I think that the details of it are well executed and are shocking. I won't say more because spoilers. Speaking of, TW in spoilers:

racism, sexism, gore, violence, death, murder, body horror(?), cannibalism (?), mentions of slavery, death of a parent/parental figure, grief

I think that covers most of the major ones.

I loved this book and I will not stop thinking about it for the foreseeable future

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Death, Violence, Gun violence, Blood, Bullying, Gore, Medical content, Body horror, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Classism, Confinement, Racial slurs, Torture, and War

Moderate: Sexual content and Xenophobia

Minor: Pregnancy

headinthepages's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, Grief, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Racism, Animal death, Cursing, Child death, Death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Gun violence, Violence, Abandonment, Sexual content, War, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Xenophobia

daradara's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.75

3.75. I enjoyed the premise of this story because I love a good trial but some parts felt incomplete or half baked, like the “romance” if that’s what you want to call it. I also did not understand why the last 30% of the book wasn’t it’s own novel. It seemed like an entirely new story took place that I was unsure about at first. But the ending was satisfying. I wish the book ended earlier than it did and the last chunk was part of the next book. 

Overall I liked the story. The gore and violence reminded me of Red Rising which I loved. The book was lacking in the romance department that it tried to have and some parts didn’t seem overly necessary.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Gore, Violence, and Gun violence

Moderate: Sexual content

thelostartofsecretkeeping's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Bullying, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, Classism, Gaslighting, Gore, Torture, Grief, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Kidnapping, Misogyny, and Physical abuse

emfass's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Gun violence, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, Cursing, Misogyny, Body horror, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Violence, Blood, Racism, Sexism, Gore, Death, Racial slurs, and Bullying

Moderate: Cannibalism, Confinement, Alcohol, War, Grief, and Colonisation

whatiskatelynreading's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Murder, Racial slurs, Sexism, Gun violence, Blood, Death, and Racism

miriam_in_life's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Xenophobia, War, Violence, Racism, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, and Grief

Moderate: Death of parent

arireadsitall's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad 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

4.25

saving my review for when the HCP strike ends but wow this was great and I may just have to embrace more fantasy!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, War, Violence, and Racism

gabbadabbadoo's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

one of my first few books of the year and it set the bar impossibly high!

i went into this not expecting much -- there's no shortage of protagonists trying to avenge dead family members in the fantasy genre -- but I was extremely pleasantly surprised. i personally haven't read a book that was so consistenly action-packed, there is literally never a dull moment. this book is violent and bloody and cruel and i am obsessed with it!! reading some of the characters injuries and deaths made me wince a bit, but i respect Davenport for being able to come up with so many ways for people to hurt. so, if lots of blood and violence and death are your thing look no further. the brutal nature of the trials initially struck me as a little superfluous, but it makes more sense and the country's history and culture develop more as you read.

the mc also sold this book for me. i typically don't like characters that are easily blinded by rage, but i loooooove Ikenna. there were more than several times where she'd do smt and i thought were unneccessary and would come back to bite her in the ass, but i support women's rights and women's wrongs!!! but fr i'd read and wonder if she was trying to get herself killed, but she never beat someone's ass who didn't deserve that or worse. and she'll do it again!
 
i also loved that the romance was extremely minor. like eensy teensy weenie minor. a bigger romantic subplot would definitely ruin a book like this, so i loved that the cehemistry was definitely there and i saw it coming, but it never took over the plot. hg has revenge to get and people to kill, she is on a mission.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Racism, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Cursing, Grief, and War

Minor: Torture and Alcohol