Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

38 reviews

katvou's review against another edition

adventurous informative mysterious 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Drug use, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Violence

clhtdr's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Death of parent and Miscarriage

Minor: Suicide

laura_mcloughlin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

My favorite of the series. Yes, the plot is extremely slow moving. It takes almost half the book for Matthew and Diana to actually start doing the thing that sent them to Elizabethian England. Do I care? No, I do not. I like the meandering plot and the characters we meet along the way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Miscarriage, and Blood

Moderate: Grief, Sexual content, Violence, Pregnancy, and Death of parent

Minor: Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Antisemitism, and Child abuse

juliette_95's review

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Torture and Pregnancy

Minor: Miscarriage and Sexual content

antimony27's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Blood, and Sexual content

kipipsi'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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage

Moderate: Blood

beccaand's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Blood

Moderate: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Violence, Torture, and Death of parent

Minor: Drug use and Antisemitism

laurajeangrace's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Torture, Sexual content, Miscarriage, Death of parent, Confinement, and Pregnancy

theespressoedition's review against another edition

adventurous challenging slow-paced

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

3.0

Reading this series has been such an experience for me. As someone who grew up with such intense love for YA fantasy, moving into adult fantasy has been a little bit of a struggle. While yes, I find myself relating with the characters a bit more because I'm in their age group, it seems like adult fantasy, as a whole, takes a much slower pace to focus on world-building. I'll admit that I prefer quicker paces and more focus on character development, but I'm learning to appreciate this genre more and more, and the All Souls books are really helping with that!

Because this was a sequel, it followed the same progression as a lot of fantasy sequels and slowed down a lot to introduce you to the world in which the characters are living. I found myself zoning out a few times, but I think that a lot of that had to do with the fact that I'm not the biggest fan of historical references (which is why I tend to stay away from historical fiction) and so the true immersion into the 16th century was a bit uninteresting to me, personally.

That being said, I did, however, really enjoy how so many of the characters were real people. Maybe it's not exactly what they were like in reality, but it made the story more fun because it gave me the chance to imagine what they could've been like in those circumstances. There were a few really interesting references to well-known individuals that made my mind continue to ponder long after I finished the book (ex: Annie and who she actually was!)

One of the things this series has done is stick in my brain. Just like when I finished the first book, I've found myself revisiting the plot of the sequel to consider certain things and how they could play into the future of the story. Even though I might not have been 100% immersed in every single part while I was actively reading, it won't leave my mind now that I've completed it. This alone makes me all the more excited to dive into The Book of Life.

I can't wait to see what happens next!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Torture, Violence, and Child abuse

goosegrimm's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

Sometimes you need a campy book about witches timetraveling to elizabethian england and getting married to a vampire. This is that book. I found it really slow in the beginning, and while I do enjoy (somewhat) how complex the plotlines are, there were a few times I was frustrated by the detours. However, Harkness still has a really interesting way of handling prose. And I am a sucker for all of the history bits. And overall the last 3rd of the book was quite tight and very satisfying. If you like paranormal romances with a shocking amount of history in them, Harkness is where its at honestly.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Sexism, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, and War

Minor: Xenophobia