Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Swordheart by T. Kingfisher

7 reviews

ritabriar's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted 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

5.0

The main characters are delightful, kind, and a bit snarky. I adore Halla's ability to weaponize questions and the way Sarkis respects her quickly, especially once he gets to know her. (Things do get spicy, though it's not the main focus.) Zale and Brindle are also stars of the book, in spite of their official status as support characters.

These main characters contrast with the various villains, who suffer from a severe inability to take interest in the perspective of others, each in a slightly different way.

The plot is both character- and setting-driven, in the manner of a campaign run by an excellent game master: some things happen not because the characters make them happen, but because things like this just happen here, and they might as well happen now. (To be clear, these events serve the plot or character arcs and I love them.) I'm thinking of the Vagrant Hills, especially, which are

a piece of geography that grabs travelers if they feel like it.

The Motherhood priests probably also qualify. 

As you'd expect in a book starring a magic sword, the setting has plenty of magic, which follows definite rules (though the characters don't know all of the rules and sometimes have to figure things out as they go). There are horrific mechanics to some of the magic and magical creatures, though I would not say this is a horror book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping and Sexual content

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Violence, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Murder, Body horror, and Misogyny

Minor: Terminal illness, Gaslighting, Gore, Stalking, Suicide attempt, War, and Infertility

The first thing that happens is that Halla's relatives lock her in her own room. She

escapes immediately, but does get briefly

captured again several times by various parties.

Halla's aunt tries to get her to believe that she should go along with their plans to steal her inheritance, using various nasty tactics. The couple doesn't want children, and eventually figure out that one of them probably can't have them.

purplepenning's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Murder, Vomit, Confinement, Blood, Death, and Violence

Minor: Fatphobia, Slavery, Alcohol, Self harm, and Torture

nebraskanwriter's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

One of my new top favorite fantasy books! If you are a plot person, this is not the book for you. This book is about 90% witty banter and 10% plot. I am normally a plot-based person but the characters were so funny and the chemistry between them all was so engaging, I did not mind at all that there really wasn’t a lot of plot going on. 

This is basically Aladdin (in a way) except instead of a lamp, a powerful warrior is trapped in a sword and has to do the bidding of whoever wields him until either that  wielder dies or sells the sword. Shenanigans ensue when instead of a warlord, a respectable widow unsheathes the sword and releases Sarkis from his silver prison. What follows is an adventure of travel (a lot of it, lots of walking and riding in a wagon pulled by a pretty footed ox) so if you don’t like a lot of travel in your books, you might not like this one. Along the way they meet a rat priest and a few other charismatic characters. The search to get Halla back her rightful inheritance so she doesn’t have to marry her clammy handed cousin was quite the time, just what I needed. This book made me smile and laugh a lot, the dialogue was so witty and fun! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical content, Sexual content, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Violence, Abandonment, Body horror, Murder, Physical abuse, War, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, and Death of parent

drkappitan's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

This was a delight. I cannot wait to pick up Kingfisher's other work.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Torture, Body horror, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide attempt

wilybooklover's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

4.0

This was so fun. Cosy fantasy with a smidge of death and horror and a lot of swoony romance. It was so genuinely funny, too. I often find that humour in books falls flat for me but the banter in Swordheart had me laughing out loud. Sarkis and Halla were such great characters and worked together so beautifully (if I’m being honest I kind of want a Sarkis myself). I loved that they were both older and had the bodies to show for it. 

The world that T. Kingfisher has created is so intriguing. The variety of different gods and religions and all of the lore and rules behind them, the truly inventive creatures, the incredibly disturbing Vagrant Hills. You could tell at times that the author also writes horror, because some of the scenes were so creepy they sent a chill down my spine. 

One thing I really appreciated was a key aspect of Halla’s characterisation. She basically uses the misogyny of the world to her own advantage and deliberately plays stupid and acts like a bit of a vapid airhead so that people underestimate her and she can get away with things. Weaponised ignorance, basically. You don’t often see women in fantasy novels taking back some power in this way. 

I really didn’t like the third-act conflict though. It felt very out of character for Halla to react in the way that she did, especially after everything she’d been through in the book.

It read more like a deus ex machina in order to tie up the Bartholomew/Nolan plot. And I have some qualms about the ending, with Sarkis remaining immortal while Halla is mortal. There’s scope for it to be addressed in future books, I suppose, but it didn’t really feel like a proper HEA.

 

I want to end on a positive note, because I really did love this book, so I’ll just say that Zale was amazing and I would die for them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Death, Domestic abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Gaslighting, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death of parent, War, and Misogyny

ashleycmms's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Murder

Moderate: Violence, Animal cruelty, War, Animal death, and Body horror

Minor: Sexual content and Pregnancy

theirgracegrace's review

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Confinement, and Physical abuse

Minor: Xenophobia, War, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Sexism, Rape, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Body horror, and Incest