Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

These Hollow Vows by Lexi Ryan

29 reviews

kristakp's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

The book was enjoyable but also annoying. An easy read and derivative from other similar books in this genre, but sometimes that hits the spot. I do hate the author's persistence of referring to men and women as "male" and "female," it's pretty terfy.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Slavery, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Stalking

siglerbooknook's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

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

3.0

Personally I didn't enjoy this book. The premise was promising but the execution fell flat. The whole first half felt very much like ACOTAR fanfiction. 

And the ending was not satisfying for me. I guessed a lot of what was going to happen by chapter 10 and almost everything else by chapter 19. 

This felt like the miscommunication trope to the extreme which has never been a favorite. There were so many places where honesty could have made a better story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Violence, Vomit, Trafficking, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Physical abuse, Medical content, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Deportation

Minor: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

kirstenf's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Moderate: Confinement, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexism, Terminal illness, and Abandonment

katvou's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Sexual content, Slavery, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: War

bookedandbusy's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-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

5.0

Loved this book! Such an incredible fantasy book! I’m excited to read the next one! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

haley49's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

This was the kind of book with all the twists and turns I wanted with enough setup to guess twists but still find them believable and satisfying. The romance(s) were well-done in that I went back and forth on who I was rooting for. The unreliable/fish out of water narrator helped build tension and suspense. Only real complaint was that some of the characters could have felt more 3-dimensional; there were some moments where some characters felt more like empty tropes without their own flair. Otherwise, an amazing, unputdownable read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Abandonment

Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and War

Minor: Child abuse, Gore, Sexism, and Slavery

Manipulation,

louisa_pennyfeather2021's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Moral of the story, it's spelled "Man"ipulation for a reason. Brie deserves an Anti-hero arc. I support women's rights, but more importantly I support women's wrongs.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Drug use, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and War

laura_rheads_too_much's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Stalking, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

Minor: Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, and Kidnapping

helpme71's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Cursing, Gore, Sexual content, and Torture

bookishflower's review

adventurous dark emotional 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

2.75

This is a shameless a court of thorns and roses fan fiction, don’t believe me? You have the blond, spring prince and the dark, tattooed, dream wandering, shadow prince both fighting over the chosen one human girl who must free the lands from a curse. And surprise, surprise,

Sebastian/Tamlin is manipulative and evil.

Whatever team you’re on, I’m team single Brie! Give her a villain arc, let her

steal back her crown and get her revenge on everyone who manipulated her. Subvert the genre.

. The representation isn’t great, and the description of the goblins errs on problematic (while this is historic and not a new invention by Ryan,  not researching the history of antisemitism in depictions of goblins-especially after the discussions around j.k. Row*ing-feels sloppy). (However, I should add I am not a Jewish reviewer and you should always listen to own voice reviewers. If I am wrong please correct me). That being acknowledged, this is a fun guilty pleasure book, perfect for fans of acotar and those looking to get out of a reading slump. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Homophobia, Slavery, and Trafficking