Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Vrania šestka by Leigh Bardugo

935 reviews

amypalmer's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

I enjoyed this and think that it is the best of the groshaverse books so far. I didn't enjoy as much as I thought I would. I do love the characters and thought it was a good read. Not one I would likely re-read. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use

Minor: Death, Gore, and Violence

anonymous_dinosaur's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Good read! Very interesting. The plot was positively gripping, and the author does a very good job immersing you in the setting. REALLY interesting. Most of the characters were fascinating and likable, too, but I just... really did not care about Nina and Matthias. I absolutely did not care about them, and it felt like there was SO much on them, especially in the middle. Matthias was just not very likeable to me and he didn't get interesting until like the last quarter. That and I feel like Kaz's thing for Inej is a bit predictable. Other than that, though, real good read! I'd definitely reread it to absorb more, I love the intrigue and the shenanigans. It was absolutely amazing going through the 4D chess the crew is operating on here, it was super engaging, especially in the first and last thirds of the book. Definitely gonna read the second one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use and Xenophobia

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Vomit

sunnyscholar's review against another edition

adventurous tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Flawless storytelling with unforgettable characters! Never a dull moment and always multiple questions waiting to be answered. It's a masterclass in writing memorable character interactions and overall a gripping pageturner!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Genocide, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Slavery

tracy713's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Slavery

faithtaylor's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

PHENOMENAL. This book is pulling me right back to my fantasy roots!!!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Misogyny

devils_minion's review against another edition

adventurous funny 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Sexual violence

teajay_'s review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Trafficking, and Kidnapping

anna_lovegood's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Cursing

bookishfads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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

A fun ride of a book, can't wait to get my hands on the sequel. Leigh Bardugo really redeemed herself of the boring protagonist of The Grisha Trilogy with this fun new cast of characters, each unique and interesting in their own way, not to mention how their dynamics play out in the crazy job they sign up for. Some parts are full of plot-armor that takes away from the cleverness of the story, but I suppose sometimes it can't be helped. My main issue was simply making one character (read: Kaz) too powerful and not really what the story set him up to be. I'm glad the author got inspired from her own experience with chronic pain, but Kaz's disability hardly affects the plot. It's just character cosmetics.
Still, I enjoyed this read and its perfect if you want to get to know a fun group of characters, read some snappy dialogue full of clever clap backs and see more of the Grishaverse.
 Read more about it in spoiler section below.

So why 4 stars? I took off .25 because the last part of the book kinda started to get a bit too plot-armory for the characters and the clever plans got less and less clever and the plot twists at some points were simply because information was left out to the reader. Lame.
Another .25 is Wylan. I really liked him and wanted to get to know more of him... shame the author didn't feel the same. Not a  single POV from a character who's supposedly member of the titled ensemble... For what? A cheap plot twist? Wylan's reading disability would have been just as effective in the middle as it was at the end of the book.
 
Half a star is taken away because of Kaz Brekker.
Let's start with this age - 17! And he's this edgy criminal mastermind at 17. Ugh, it YA, I get it, marketing and all that, but making him 20 at least wouldn't have scared the teenagers away, trust me. Age aside, Kaz is so full of edge (some other characters had straight up edgy sentences torn from a local emo's diary, but Kaz takes the cake) it actually disrupted my immersion in the story and made me snort back a frustrated laugh. I can't take seriously this edge lord, who apparently first got arrested at age of 12.
Then his whole skill set is all over the place. Okay, he's the mastermind with neat sleight of hand and lock picking abilities. How come he can take down a dude who strangled a wolf with his bare hands?? With a disabled leg?? Okay, maybe the way he did it was plausible, but that still doesn't justify making Kaz good at everything just because the author wants you to think hes So Kewl! One scene - he hardly climbes up to third floor, another- he's running around and fighting and - you've guessed it - it has no impact on the plot at all. 
Kaz's weaknesses would have been so cool to explore: the touch aversion, injured leg, obsession with revenge and control, but they get swept aside to show us another clever triumph of Kazzle Dazzle. I really want to like him, but so far his comebacks, thieving tips and romance with Inej are the only fun part of the character, otherwise he's an edgy killjoy that course-corrects the plot just when it's about to get interesting.
Man just look at that paragraph.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Hate crime, Slavery, Torture, Vomit, and Trafficking

Moderate: Ableism, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Vomit

Plot revolves around an intense drug for magic users, throughout the story there's lots of forced usage of the drug and description of bodies of addicts. A character tortures and kills someone for information, quite graphic. There's also mentions of torture in prison. The aftermath of a hate crime over a fictional race is described and it happens quite suddenly - they're burned at the stake. A character gets trafficked as a little girl and sold into sexual slavery, the scene where she's sold is quite detailed, however the rest of it is vague mentions.

Moderate warnings:

A parent of a character hates them due to their learning disorder and calls them a mistake and many other hurtful things. A character who has had a radical religious upbringing defends an extremist ideology to another character. Character often get into violent situations and get injured, nothing too disturbing, but occasionally something graphic will pop up.

Minor warnings:

A character vomits out a necessary tool. It is brief and glossed over, but still to be considered. A female character has been trafficked and used for prostitution, therefore raped many times, which is mentioned, but never explicitly shown.

nooweljayy's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, and Blood

Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Abandonment