Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor

6 reviews

kathrynleereads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Picking up only minutes after Strange the Dreamer ended, Muse of Nightmares, by Laini Taylor, was everything that its predecessor wasn’t… in the most surprising ways.

With the Citadel now in Lazlo’s control but still looming over the city of Weep, Muse of Nightmares opens with a whole new level of chaos. Citizens are fleeing, Eril-Fane is trying to corral the Tizerkane warriors, and Lazlo is meeting the other Godspawn for the first time.

Before we find out how the night's events play out, however, we’re introduced to Kora and Nova, sisters living in a desolate village, who have an incredibly different view of the blue-skinned “gods” that the people of Weep have come to dread. 

As the story plays out for the sisters, Lazlo, the Godspawn, and the people of Weep, the book really lives up to its name. 

Where Strange the Dreamer was all dreams and imaginary worlds, Muse of Nightmares is all horror and unimaginable crimes. The books were like two sides of a coin. Readers fell in love with the picturesque and awe-filled version of Weep, then had that whole idea spun on its axis until it was an ugly truth. 

There are very few times when reading a book that I can honestly say I experienced gut-wrenching horror, and Muse of Nightmares was the reason for many of them. 

All of the questions presented in Strange the Dreamer were finally granted answers, but they were the answers of nightmares.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, Genocide, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Trafficking, Vomit, and War

Moderate: Confinement, Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Medical content, Mental illness, and Misogyny

Minor: Infidelity, Abandonment, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, and Homophobia

grets_reads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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: Death, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Kidnapping, Grief, Confinement, Murder, Xenophobia, Child abuse, War, Trafficking, and Slavery

Minor: Domestic abuse, Suicide, Sexual assault, Sexism, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, and Physical abuse

nyree42's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, and Racism

doodeedoda's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Pregnancy, Violence, Death, Confinement, Grief, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Child death, Mental illness, Trafficking, and Child abuse

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Blood, Death of parent, Sexual content, and Self harm

thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

*dreamy, wonder-filled sigh* this book is a gift; one of depraved darkness, oppression, hatred, but also of love and imagination and redemption and a world - worlds - of possibilities if we hope for it.

still have never read anything so wondrously, boundlessly imaginative, and the eretz easter eggs are a bonus too. muse is a languid yet tension-filled story, but its plot still contains surprises. the writing is absolutely exquisite; laini can make you ache, amazed, or devastated with just a phrase or even a single word. despite having already read this once before, i was still riveted.

i wish every single person read this book; god(s) knows the world would be so much better for it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Sexual content, Child death, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Grief, Domestic abuse, and Death

Minor: Sexual assault, Death of parent, Kidnapping, War, Suicide, Sexual violence, and Slavery

hanarama's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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

The Good:
• Beautiful prose
• Omniscient narrator, looks into all POV
• Expanded world building

The Bad:
• Shallow romance
• Lazlo felt useless

You Might Like This if You Like:
• Frozen
• Devoted sisters
• Sympathetic antagonists 

While the first book reminded me a lot of Atlantis, thus one reminds me more of Frozen due to the Nova's arc. 

Here we learn more about the gods, and more specifically about Kora, who was the goddess of secrets. We learn about her past and about her sister, Nova who is a POV character. Through Nova, significant world building is accomplished. We see the true nature of the gods as well as learn what their purpose in Weep was. It really helps to set Nova up as a very sympathetic antagonist. 

And though Minya is at times very frustrating, we learn a great deal about her backstory here. As a result, Minya becomes more than just a vengeful permanent-child. 

There is a lot more time spent exploring side characters in this book. It really helps to flesh out the world. It also helped me to connect with the larger picture of the story. 

The biggest let down was in how utterly useless Lazlo was through most of the story. He's wholly devoted himself to Sarai in this book, and thus undergoes very little development, and he makes little use of his abilities in dealing with the antagonists. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Blood, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Injury/Injury detail