Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Road of Bones by Demi Winters

8 reviews

kale_abomination's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

annick's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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? No

5.0

Fantastic. Narration was excellent. 


Cracking good fantasy read. Morally grey characters (male and female). Some disability representation (mute and mechanical arm). And the women fight for their safety/freedom. multi pov in third person. the last third was really engaging and a great mix of plot and character drama. 

This book has well paced  plot, tension, intrigue and a mix of well drawn characters who react with their flaws and learn with time to change their minds and actions. 

The world building is interesting. 

I enjoyed the various plot twists. And was deeply satisfied with some near the end that I did not anticipate. 

The use of old Norse words was appealing to me (i learned some Swedish in recent years). 

I’m eager to read book two. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Drug use, Misogyny, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Slavery

jennipea382's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

booksalacarte's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.75

The road of bones
4.75⭐️3🌶️

Adult Fantasy Romance
Viking inspired
20yo FMC
Dual POV
Journeying
Disabled Side cCharacters
Unique Magic System
Slow burn
Found Family
Complicated Characters
Secret Identities
Forced Proximity

Tw: murder, addiction


I should have read this sooner. 

I heard about it through mutuals and it has been on my TBR for a long time. I was so excited to get an arc of it which made me hike it up on my never ending TBR. 

This was such a refreshing read! The plot was intriguing. The world building was slow, but well done. It didn’t distract for the story, and never felted like an info dump. The magic system has only been revealed when needed. And usually that annoys me, or makes me think it’s not been well thought out… but in this instance, I think it suits the plot really well.

The beginning was slow to get into. I was waiting for the FMC to get to a decently capable point, and it took a while. But the further I read, the more I had to keep reading. The plot was surprising, the characters unique and I was so angry when the twist happened! That character better get what’s calming to them!! 

The first PoV is the FMC and very compelling. Orphan on the run with a secret even she doesn’t know about.

The second POV introduces us to another girl… the enemy, essentially, hunting for the first FMC by the order of the mysterious queen.

Third POv is the blond mercenary with a troubled past.

4th POV is the band leader who is as tight lipped and mysterious as anyone. 

The beginning was hard to get into, I was waiting for the FMC to get to a decently capable point, and it took a while. But the further I read, the more I had to keep reading. The plot was surprising, the characters unique and I was so angry when the twist happened! That character better get what’s calming to them!! 

The love triangle-ish had me on the edge of my seat! I was so intrigued by how the romance would play out. 

Thank God I have an ARC of the second book… cause I would not do well with that cliffhanger and POV addition if I had to be patient and wait until February, when it is going to be released. 

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing - Ballantine, Dellacorte Press for the eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

doahdancer's review

dark emotional lighthearted tense 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

4.5

The writing quality is quite good. 

Relationships are built steadily, but no key moment is spared to move the plot forward. If you enjoy the slow build of a friendship or a romance and don't mind a road trip, then this is for you.

The FMC is a gentle soul, but strong hearted. She's a good antidote to sassy personalities, if they've got you down. 

The MMC though? Complicated. Really wasn't sure about him most of the time, but I actually think I'm really, really going to like him in the next book. He's got some great development towards the end that sets up for an amazing payout next book. Here's to hoping we actually get it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

love triangle Bigger spoiler:

love interest flip

wickeddelights's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

4.25

There was a lot I really liked about this book. The story follows a woman named Silla on the run from a past she is far from certain of, toward a safehaven located at the end of a dangerous path known as the Road of Bones. Through a set of quick decisions and a small bit of deception she ends up traveling with a group known as the Bloodaxe Crew in hopes that they can get her safely to her destination. What happens along the way is a story you simply need to read for yourself.
~~**Spoilers Below**~~(Although not a lot of them)

The author did a good job of maintaining a voice throughout the whole story that helped with the immersion in the setting. Phrases were worded in such a way that it was easy to imagine it being spoken by someone in a fantasy nordic setting. 
The power/magic systems were really interesting and easy to follow, and most of the flora and fauna was pretty unique.
Where the story has some pitfalls for me is in some of the pacing. For a while during the travels the days/chapters could be summed up with "Silla cooked the daymeal. Jonas and Rey brooded by the fire. The others played dice, with maybe a bit of training and fun banter with Hekla on the side. And while it is very clear that Silla is struggling with an addiction, sometimes the thoughs revolving leaves felt overwhelming to read. I'm not saying that as a bad thing neccisarily (I honestly think thats the point) but I thought it worth noting nonetheless.
And while one of the things I praise highly of this book happenes to be the immersive speech, sometimes it felt like it could make sections drag a tiny bit. 

Alllll of that said. I really enjoyed this book, and I am excited to read book two.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Norse inspired, slow burn, adventure, duology

wollfaden's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I didn’t know how many pages the book had, when I started reading. Halfway through I discovered that I’ve already read 350 pages. 
I really liked the writing style and the pace, even though it seemed a bit to slow in the first half (would describe the pace in the first half as medium)
All in all it was a good read. The plot twist were kinda predictable but not badly made.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Sexual assault, Torture, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment

Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Genocide, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

soniajoy98's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Stalking, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry