Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Dark Rise by C.S. Pacat

59 reviews

cait's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Grief, Infidelity, Murder, Abandonment, Death, Blood, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Racism, Gaslighting, Gore, Violence, Vomit, and War

potatogrr's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

wow morally grey characters are always a trip.

also, please let them kiss C.S.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, War, and Death

Moderate: Classism, Grief, Kidnapping, and Violence

Minor: Sexual assault

ronniethereader's review

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

Well well well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Violence

Moderate: Gore, Racism, Death of parent, and Blood

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

adult/minor relationship isn't explicit and mostly just mentioned as an engagement, but he (also the bad guy) is almost 40 and she is ~17

diana_raquel's review

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

4.75

“I think what people were is less important than what they are. And what people are is less important than what they could be.”

[Moment of fangirling: WHAT WAS THAT ENDING???? ALSO, PACAT, JAMES AND WILL BETTER BE ENDGAME!!]

Look, its very simple: everything Pacat writes, I read! I love every single book! This book is filled with mystery, intrigue and truly unexpected plot-twists. It also has a well-structured plot and well-developed characters. It has everything to be a favorite of mine! And it is! I loved it!

I can't wait for Dark Heir. Totally recommend!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Confinement, Child abuse, Torture, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Genocide, Death of parent, War, and Violence

spooderman's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Torture, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death, Classism, Murder, Emotional abuse, Blood, Violence, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Confinement, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Pedophilia, Xenophobia, Racism, Trafficking, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Sexism, Infidelity, Incest, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Sexual assault, Self harm, Slavery, Outing, Child death, Child abuse, and Abandonment

naechan's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

I don’t expect much from YA books anymore, but this was such a pleasant surprise. I thought the writing was proficient, the characters were likable with interesting dynamics between them and the plot and world building were entertaining and kept me engaged. The plot twist (if you could call it that) was very obvious, especially if you have seen the second book title/cover, but that didn’t detract from my enjoyment. Even if I, as the reader, already knew about it, the mystery quickly became more about how the information was going to come out to light, how the characters would react to it and how the events would unfold once it all became clear. I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite book ever, but I borrowed it from my library and I liked it enough to want to buy a copy for myself which is something I rarely do because I’m very selective with the books I chose to own. I’m really looking forward to the next one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Murder

sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, War, and Murder

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Colonisation

lilifane's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

This book broke me. So if this sounds appealing to you, and you read it based on my review, please don't complain afterwards. 

The start was very promising, but then there was a lot of world building and getting to know characters for like 30-50% of the book. Enough action and plot twists to keep me interested, but also very few bread crumbs of what I really wanted to read about to make me impatient. The second half is just a wild ride.
It is supposed to be YA and I recognize the typical tropes coming with a YA fantasy books. But most of them have a spin or are resolved in a new way, which I really loved. You expect things to happen, and then they do happen, but in unexpected ways to mess with your head. In fact, I truly believe, the author just wrote this book to mess with my head specifically. Especially with the ending, which makes me question everything I thought I knew about myself. 
Anyway, this book also seems a little too brutal for YA? The stakes are definitely higher than usual, and the author isn't afraid of showing it. 
The world building is interesting, and the mysteries are intriguing, but what I loved the most were the intense and intimate scenes between the characters. I held my breath so many times I lost count, tbh. Thank goodness, the sequel is coming out next month. Can't wait to get my heart ripped out and trampled on again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, and Violence

kal517'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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Torture, Blood, and Slavery

Minor: Racism and Animal death

raichou's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

Ich hätte mit dem Buch warten sollen bis der zweite Band erschienen ist. Der Cliffhanger am Ende! 

Der erste Band sehr viel World building und man hat einiges über die Hauptcharatere gelernt. Ich fand es sehr spannend, auch durch die unterschiedlichen Perspektiven der Charaktere mehr über die Welt zu lernen. 
Will selber hat diese Welt selber gerade erst kennen gelernt, daher fand ich es auch nicht zu viel Information auf ein Mal, wenn ihm etwas erklärt wurde. 

Ich habe mit vielen gerechnet, aber nicht mit dem Twist am Ende! 

Ich hatte so gehofft, dass James aus der ganzen Sache irgendwie unbeschadet raus kommt, er ist mir sl and Herz gewachsen. Genau wie Will. Ich hoffe so sehr, dass sie es schaffen sich ihren eigenen Weg zu suchen und nicht die Geschichte wiederholen müssen.

Der zweite Band kann nicht früh genug kommen!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Slavery