Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Lore by Alexandra Bracken

60 reviews

katiegisondi's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25


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dempewolf's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

3.5

As a Classicist, the world building took a bit of time to understand. Would have preferred more clarity on exactly how the Agon began and what happens to the gods and goddesses between the Agons.

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sweyra's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense fast-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

4.5


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careythesixth's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective fast-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

This was dark, but also a lot of fun. I've been really into Greek myths lately and this was great. It got a little teen angsty at times, but it is a YA book and I'm old. That being said, it's definitely for older teens. This book gets gruesome often, and is not a Percy Jackson readalike. This is for the teen into The Hunger Games and Battle Royale.

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redthistle's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny hopeful inspiring fast-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

2.75


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theespressoedition's review against another edition

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

2.0

I'm not sure why it has become a trend for authors to just shove a bunch of knowledge into a book and call it a story, but it has and I am not a fan.

Lore was insanely hyped and I was insanely excited to read it. I found it to be slow, with a ton of information that had very little actual explanation. There were so many "false gods" and "new gods" and "old gods" and titles that made no sense and everything got mixed up so easily.

It also seemed like I was reading a sequel. As if there had been another book with all the world-building and then this one was picking up where the other left off, making the assumption that the reader understood all of the characters and the world when, in reality, I did not.

The end felt rushed. I got to the point where there were only about 50 pages left and was baffled as to how they'd wrap up the story in such a short period of time. I'm still not sure whether the ending was the real ending or if there's supposed to be a sequel. 

Needless to say, definitely not one that I enjoyed. I had potential but didn't live up to it.

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pirate_frog's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25


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aseel_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny 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

4.25 

this was FUN!! I loved reading a book that talks about the ruthless and brutality of the Greek gods/goddesses and I loved discussing the misogyny that they had (side eyeing Athena). 

I really enjoyed the premise and plot, and all the characters. some parts felt a bit confusing and the writing was a bit hard to follow at times (main reason it didn't get five stars). 

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kryan1's review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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baexlee's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional fast-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

4.25

Lore is an inventive and thrilling modernization of Greek mythos that overall left me satisfied with its conclusions. Following the titular character, Lore, as she lives her life in New York City, debating her next move as time moves her closer and closer to the next Agon. An ancient and cruel punishment designed by Zeus for nine gods that betrayed him long ago, and an opportunity for the hero bloodlines, people like Lore, if they survived long enough to seize the opportunity that is. This is an aspect of the novel that really shines throughout, the Greek mythos is complex, but not expected or implied, and the information is revealed in a way that it carefully balances those reader expectations and subverts them without becoming too convoluted or suspending willing disbelief. 

As much as the Agon is driving the events of this novel, Lore does not remain stagnant. Her emotions and the rawness of her feelings are ripe on the page, which is another strength Bracken displays throughout. Despite the briefness of certain moments (I do prefer a bit more romance personally), throughout the novel Bracken shows her mastery of character emotion as she played with my heartstrings. Lore's history and her family background, as well as the connection between her "past" and her "present" creates really intense emotions for her as she must finally face emotions she has not dealt with for the past seven years, Bracken not only handles those emotions but does a great job at putting Lore into the right mindset for where she might have been at the time of the events occurring. 

My biggest problem with this novel was the age of the characters. From the very beginning of the book it was implied that Lore was maybe young adult, early twenties at youngest, mid-twenties at most. I'm not marking this as a spoiler because it's in the first chapter but the first chapter establishes Lore in an underground fighting ring, she then eventually goes back to her brownstone that she has inherited with no questions asked. I mention this because later in the novel there is a flashback seven years that establishes Lore to be ten years old in the flashback. There is no other definitive age establishment that i could find within the text so this means that during the Agon and the events of the book, Lore and the majority of our main characters are meant to be seventeen years old. Not only do a lot of Lore's actions now feel a bit more mature than they should, but a great deal of the flashback's also feel greatly aged up as well. Perhaps this was an intentional character choice to show the effects of this type of life and the way that Lore was raised, but it pulled me out of the story on more than one occasion and ultimately brought the star rating down because of it. 

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