Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Valour by John Gwynne

7 reviews

xta_07's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Things I muttered to myself while reading the last few chapters of this book: What? On no! And of course: NoNoNONONonono!  

While both the beginning and the end of the book were very exciting and fun to read, I had trouble maintaining my momentum through the middle. What truly carried me through were the characters. They shine in this story; they all feel incredibly real. I really particularly enjoyed

Cywens journey, and her budding relationship with Vedaris and Alcyon. Even though she is their captive, they end up caring about each other.

I also really liked Camlin finding his place in the “crew” and learning the value of loyalty. There are a few one sided “bad guys” but most of the characters have nuance and depth, which is something I really appreciate.

John Gwynne has a knack for taking a tangled spider web of a plot and weaving it all together in a beautiful tear stained tapestry. I am both exited and scared to pick up book 3!

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Rape, Torture, and Confinement

surdiablo's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

3.0

It's an improvement over the first book if you consider the 'entertainment' aspect, but I'm afraid most of the issues I mentioned about its predecessor carry over to this one as well, and the writing style just doesn't work for me. Characterization, world-building, all of them feels either generic or cookie cutter. Nothing really stands out and whenever something really good happens, it falls flat because the author writes just enough to get the point across, which kills whatever excitement I feel at that moment. Consider these final words of the book ( ending spoilers ofc! ) for example where

the protagonist lost his mom and buried her after a battle.

He thought of the cauldron, the black cloud rising from it, the tainted Jehar ripping men limb from limb, Nathair sitting on the dais steps, and finally the old man that he had fought, who had killed his mam. Calidus, Meical had called him. One thought circled in his head like the black birds swirling about the mountain peaks.
They must be stopped.

They must be stopped!

Okay ye, that's obvious. Is that the final line that's suppposed to get me hyped for next book? Come on now.. There's also some twists and turns in the story that made me laugh rather than surprised because of how contrived or ridiculous it was sometimes. With all that said, I did have some fun reading it and I really enjoyed Maquin's arc. That's one thing I had my doubts about when it comes to execution, and it turned out to be the best thing about the book somehow, which was a pleasant surprise. Regardless of this book being an improvement, unfortunately I can't say I really liked it still, so I'mma round down to a 3.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and War

Moderate: Misogyny, Confinement, and Rape

kat1105's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, Violence, Animal death, Confinement, Gore, Grief, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, War, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Murder, and Slavery

Moderate: Child abuse, Trafficking, Ableism, and Abandonment

Minor: Sexual content, Rape, and Sexual violence

darkefyres's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Blood, Death of parent, Death, and Slavery

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal death, Confinement, War, and Violence

Minor: Child abuse

jaedia's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Violence, War, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Death of parent, Blood, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Murder, and Slavery

Moderate: Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Medical content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, and Rape

Minor: Torture, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, Excrement, Fatphobia, Animal death, Alcohol, Vomit, and Body shaming

kylieqrada's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.0

I am continuing to love this series!!! While I didn't adore this with the fiery passion that I did the first one, I still really enjoyed it. A few moments of fatphobia, bleh. But more character development for our strong female protagonists and some big reveals contributed to what's shaping up to be a potential new fave series. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, and Xenophobia

seanml's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful tense medium-paced

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

4.0

 This bomb of a series continues! 8/10.

Highlights: Cywen, Camlin, Alcyon, and Veradis. And to top them all off, the tale of Maquin.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Violence, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Death of parent, and Torture

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Rape, and Misogyny