Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Valour by John Gwynne

3 reviews

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

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

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