Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

31 reviews

gillian_aftanas's review against another edition

adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious relaxing 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Misogyny, Violence, Confinement, Death, Murder, Pedophilia, Animal cruelty, Gaslighting, Medical content, and Sexual content

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Grief, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Incest, Kidnapping, Blood, Emotional abuse, Rape, Torture, and Vomit

Minor: Child death and Abortion

martin27's review

adventurous hopeful tense medium-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

The beginning drags on for quite a while, and the middle struck me as just being bland. The ending was very good though. Really everything after the introduction of Princess Bitterblue is good and the rest is not bad but didn’t interest me that much. I expected a much more complex magic system than what the Graces actually are, which is a vague concept that for some people is the ability to read minds or see the future and for others is just being able to swim sort of fast. The world building as a whole is very weak. In fact it’s the weakest point of the novel, I think. The author’s voice is unique and has promise but the world that Graceling is set in just doesn’t have any depth. 

It was fine and isn’t the worst book ever, but I’m not super committed to picking up any of the sequels. I will stress again that Katsa and Bitterblue have a great relationship that was really interesting, and I love that

Katsa, a woman who is committed to remaining childfree and unmarried, is not convinced that she actually did want children all along. Katsa loves kids and was very protective of Bitterblue, but that doesn’t mean she wants to have kids. It was a pleasant surprise to not have her shoved into a motherly role even when she has to take care of a kid for a third of the novel. Bitterblue is like a sister to her.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Vomit, Kidnapping, Child abuse, and Blood

Minor: Sexual harassment, Sexual content, and Misogyny

alexandrabelze's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.25

i absolutely loved the pacing of this book. everything flowed perfectly together and i was never left feeling like things were moving too quickly or like we had hit a wall. cashore’s writing style is so unique, but i came to love it while reading. it fits katsa’s character so well! katsa and po’s relationship had me HOOKED mawma. i was also living for katsa and bitterblue’s (<3<3) relationship. so excited to read the rest of the series!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Murder, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Confinement and Emotional abuse

Minor: Kidnapping, Torture, and Sexual content

imds's review

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Murder, Torture, Vomit, Child abuse, Death of parent, Grief, Sexual harassment, Animal cruelty, Death, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Stalking, Violence, Animal death, Blood, and Body horror

Minor: Child death

ottersilver's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

Know this is a first in a series which go very different directions than you’d expect. Don’t read the third book’s preview chapter, as I think it has a spoiler In it. This book has inspired me in ways I didn’t think of.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Vomit, Murder, and Torture

Minor: Animal cruelty, Death of parent, and Confinement

lots of violent fights between MCs with details

chasekj's review against another edition

adventurous fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

I liked this book a lot and am excited to read the next one!

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Content Warnings

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

alexvictoriuh's review

adventurous hopeful 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? No

4.75

FANTASTIC. BEAUTIFUL. MAGICAL. THRILLING. Truly one of the most fantastic books I think I’ve ever read. The only reason it’s not a full 5 stars is because the romance didn’t end the way I wanted to. I’d explain more, but that would make this review a lot longer than it needs to be lol. But ANYWAYS, truly one of the best books ever written, in my opinion. This was also a buddy read with my sister and we were both so audible in our reactions because it was literally just that good!!!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, and Blood

Minor: Pedophilia

much of this book takes place in the woods during intense travels which means the characters have to feed on whatever animals are caught and killed by their doing. It’s not super graphic and it’s done humanely, but if that’s something that would upset you, then be wary of that.

cepbreed's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

3.0

I will be honest I had low expectations and this book met them. It’s standard YA fantasy so how can I complain when I picked this up fully knowing what it was! A redeeming moment though happened when we learn

Po was blinded in his failed assassination plot on King Leck. It was a great twist to go along with his grace that continued to develop throughout the story.

Speaking of graces the power system in its entirety could be more clear. There are hardly any ground rules and powers vary so drastically it’s confusing. Maybe it’s meant to be convoluted? The book is too long yet some core scenes were lacking in detail while minor unimportant ones were fleshed out in pages. I have a neurosis about series though so I will be finishing it to satisfy my self.

Song: 

• Don’t Blame Me - Taylor Swift 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Grief, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Misogyny, Murder, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Animal death and Animal cruelty

Minor: Sexual content and War

claudiamacpherson's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical content, Ableism, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence

Minor: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Grief, Misogyny, Vomit, Outing, Sexual harassment, Sexism, and Torture

battybookworm's review

adventurous hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

This book! Rereading this was a delight, I think Katsa was a big deal for me when I read this as a teen. Now reading her character feels nostalgic and familiar. I can’t wait to continue with this series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Physical abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Gore, and Death

Moderate: Child death, Child abuse, and Death of parent