Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - The Road of Bones

Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Road of Bones by Demi Winters

30 reviews

maddie_rae_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Fabulous first book! I've been craving more Viking-esque stories and this one fits the bill. We follow Silla as she pursues safety and peace, finding more than she bargained for along the way.

I loved:
Author's portrayal of disabilities/inclusivity (prosthetics, sign language, etc.) as well as the invidious nature of addictions and lies. The themes of trust, loyalty, and friendships were beautiful and messy (realistic!).

I disliked:
Excessive (to me) F*bombs that many times felt a bit forced and pulled me out of the story. The world is violent and crass by nature, so it wasn't unexpected, just felt like too much for my liking.

Overall the story kept me hooked through to the last sentence. I'm looking forward to where the series leads.

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maryek's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

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kaitlinjolene's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

WOW. Took about halfway through to pick up the pace, but that’s due to great world building and scene setting in the first half. There were twists that I predicted, and twists that I definitely didn’t predict. This book is fantasy first, romance second, so if you don’t enjoy more high fantasy, high stakes, this might not be for you.

I loved it and I will be getting the second book ASAP

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kale_abomination's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious 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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t0ast_and_t3a's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful 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

The story is paced so well. Multiple POV. Has some romance (at times, you question what KIND of romance it’ll be LOL but you won’t be disappointed). In fact, I’d go as far as to say Winters does a good job at making the romance realistic in the world she builds (I haven’t said that since reading the Mask of Mirrors series, which is NOT like this series if you’re looking for recs, but the approach for the romance theme is similar). There’s action and deer with sharp teeth and a band of warriors with all the good characters (silent and deadly, grumpy, charmer, etc). And that ending (not the epilogue; the last couple chapters)!

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jpkthebard's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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

3.75

The world building is phenomenal, and the characters’ journeys are engaging. The romance element really pulled me out of the story, though, growing more tedious as it went. While that part of the plot became critical to the journey our characters are on, it felt belabored and detracted from more engaging aspects of the story.

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dblue236's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad slow-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

Trigger warnings: Violence, death of parent, graphic sexual content, sexual assault.

I've been really interested in Norse mythology and folklore since playing Assassin's Creed Valhalla a few years ago, so that drew me to this book. I am *not* a big fan of romantasy in general, so some of those themes were a bit lost on me, but overall I enjoyed the book despite its relatively slow pace. I liked the characters and the buildup of the relationships among them as a group, and the epilogue left me wanting to continue with the series. This was not necessarily something I'd make a habit of reading, but I did enjoy it for what it was.

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sarrie's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-paced

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

2.0

TL;DR: After a few days away from this I think this is a hard pass for me.
Source: Netgalley, thank you so much to the publisher!

Plot: Silla has to run to a far off town for safety after her father is killed and of course she makes all the mistakes you’d expect. And shocker - two hot dudes appear!
Characters: Unfortunately… none of these characters worked for me, especially the main character.
Setting: I did really like the setting here. The Viking Vibes are very strong and the creatures are super fun.
Fantasy: It definitely felt very fantastical with hints of a strong magic but I didn’t absolutely love it.

Thoughts:

Unfortunately this was just… not a great one for me. In fact I finished this just a few days ago and I have already forgotten most of these character’s names. I had high hopes after the initial chapters but it was quickly dashed and trampled into bland disappointment.

Silla is on the run. The Queen wants her, she has no idea why, and her father was recently killed by her men. He tells her to run to a town quite a distance away and seek safety so off she goes. That setup, not super original but the gore and the brutality that we get in those chapters - it was great! But then we fall into the trap, the miscommunication. The flat out lies. Listen, if I’m on the run for a reason I don’t understand but I see the guy I’m lying to for a ride cut off a guys fingers and slit his throat in cold blood for lying? I think I’m going to find a way to fess up the truth. Silla not only lied once and got caught! But lied AGAIN and doubled down.

I dragged myself through this but honestly after that very… unfortunate choice I couldn’t connect or seem to care very much. I had high hopes and initially I was intrigued enough to perhaps finished but with more days it’s soured. This one wasn’t for me, and I likely won’t continue. But a lot of folks have loved it so give it a try if you’re super interested, it could work for you!

2 stars

OMG and I almost forgot her casual drug use? What was up with that? I have no issue with drugs or drug use in books but this was... not well done.

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bythebookjess's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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? No

5.0

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miorinsa's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

Loved the start of Silla’s adventure in finding herself, coming into her strength, and learning how to trust in a cutthroat world.

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