Reviews tagging 'Death'

Year of the Reaper by Makiia Lucier

36 reviews

organizedxchaos's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

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

4.75

Probably one of the best fantasy books I’ve read this year. The characters were all really well written and fully fleshed out. I would’ve liked to have understood more of how and why Cas survived the plague, but the story was good despite not knowing. I loved that the world building was subtle and not over the top or info dumped on you like some authors have unfortunately done. The pacing of the story was great too and the twists kept me guessing right up until the moments the truth was revealed! I’d definitely recommend this to anyone who is looking for a fast paced but well written standalone fantasy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Kidnapping, Death of parent, Grief, and Torture

Minor: Excrement

lausiusplau's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Murder, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Violence, and Infertility

tegzy95's review against another edition

adventurous 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Violence

Minor: War

liezeb's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious fast-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Death, Grief, Toxic friendship, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail

missmali's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, Gore, Death, Animal death, Blood, and Torture

valpuri's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Pandemic/Epidemic, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Blood, Confinement, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Torture, and Xenophobia

Minor: War, Homophobia, Rape, and Vomit

tmdreads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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? No

4.0

I enjoyed this book. It’s a linear plot and I read it quickly.  Not an overly complex plot but sometimes that’s just what you what. It has what I like in a YA fantasy, what I would consider a romp, good action with a couple twists and slow burn romance. 

It’s somewhat gory so if that turns you off keep that in mind.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Torture, Murder, Violence, Death, and War

Moderate: Excrement, Animal death, Grief, Murder, and Death

Minor: Infertility, Death of parent, and Medical trauma

lktx's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

Year of the Reaper by Makiia Lucier is a YA fantasy that follows Cas, a young lord returning home after disappearing three years earlier during a war. Since that time, a plague wreaked havoc across the land and the war ended, thanks to his king’s marriage to the princess of the opposing kingdom.

The story is primarily a mystery of who is trying to assassinate the queen and successfully killing off members of her retinue from when she traveled to the kingdom the year prior. I saw the twist coming, but that didn’t lessen my enjoyment of the story as it unfolded.

Cas is an interesting character and I enjoyed seeing him interact with the world after so much change, both in himself and in the world. I also liked that he was generally a kind, caring young man. I found the other characters loveable and relatable, even though they were royalty, lords and ladies.

I listened to the audiobook and thought the narrator, Jonathan Myles, did a great job injecting humor into Cas’s narration and was able to be serious at the right moments. His voice was a bit over the top at times, but overall, a good narration experience.

As a standalone, I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it to everyone. Great read for anyone looking for a YA fantasy, especially with a mystery.

Added bonus of my favorite quote: 

“Loss is a part of life, my lord Cassiapeus, and grief is constant. It is unbearable at first. Then you find you can indeed bear it. Over and over again. As many times as necessary.”

Pros:

- Strong voice.

- Good antagonist, believable. 

- Loved Cas and Ventillus’s relationship.

- Mystery was intriguing, especially watching Cas connect the dots.

Cons: 

- The end wrapped up really quickly. I would’ve liked the answer to how Cas was able to see ghosts, what happened to Ventillus, etc.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Pandemic/Epidemic

aellwy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infertility, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Torture

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and War

dvnjii's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Child death, Torture, and Terminal illness

Minor: War