Reviews tagging 'War'

The Shadow Cabinet by Juno Dawson

8 reviews

whoisrois's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.0

“Witches will not be a weapon of the state” bbygirl u are the state 😭🤧 way better than the first book tho 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, War, Addiction, and Torture

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Transphobia

wallflovver's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

despite everything, i loved ciara.. i loved her, i cried for her and i (unfortunately) related to her.

i gave this a lower rating than HMRC, because i think there's a lot more i dislike about the sequel compared to the first book in this series.. but nevertheless it was a wild ride and seeing the story unfold had me gripped!

i will absolutely be tuning into the final installment, im very excited for it! 

ciara i love you and you've never done anything wrong x

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and War

imds's review against another edition

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Grief, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, War, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Misogyny, Abandonment, Death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, and Death of parent

keya_caivalur's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, Addiction, Drug abuse, Grief, Blood, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Miscarriage, Infertility, Adult/minor relationship, War, Misogyny, and Child abuse

Minor: Hate crime, Death of parent, Dementia, Genocide, Car accident, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Child death, Bullying, and Cursing

ejspiese's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.5

It was good but not as good as HMRC. It felt very very slow until the last 150 pages or so. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, War, and Violence

Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use

questingnotcoasting's review

adventurous dark 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

4.0

Her Majesty's Royal Coven is one of my favourite reads of 2023 so far so I was extremely excited to read this one. I listened to the audiobook again because I love Nicola Coughlan's narration. She does a wide range of accents perfectly and the different character POVs feel so distinct. I think I preferred HMRC a tiny bit more because the main characters were more often in the same place at the same time but this was still great. Dawson continues to include social commentary within her urban fantasy world, this time mainly through the introduction of the witchfinders. They made me absolutely furious and this was just as tense as the first one, mainly because of them. The ending of the first one was an interesting choice and I wasn't sure I'd enjoy the repercussions of it but actually I found it a really clever and interesting direction to take the story in. I was prepared for another cliffhanger ending but I couldn't predict what it would be. I slightly regret reading this one so soon after its release because now I have to wait at least a year for the next one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Infidelity, Misogyny, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Torture, Violence, and War

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Grief

amy_reading_23's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.5

Wow this was an incredible sequel to the first book! I'd recommend anyone read these books, they're written really well and are really gripping. There were loads of unexpected twists and turns in this one but overall it was really enjoyable. 

I really enjoyed the themes of why people do the things they do and how you can come back from it. I love Ciara's storyline and ended up really liking her.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, and Grief

Moderate: Death, Sexism, Racial slurs, Addiction, War, Abandonment, and Body horror

Minor: Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical trauma, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic relationship

themelleh's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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? No

4.0

Waterstones did me a solid and delivered it to me early, so even as a slow reader I still managed to finish it in 3 nights after work.

I’m obsessed. I had no idea what to expect but thoroughly enjoyed the ride. I can’t wait for the next book!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death, Toxic relationship, War, and Ableism