Reviews tagging 'War'

Das dunkle Herz des Waldes by Naomi Novik

94 reviews

seadeepy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Murder, Confinement, Classism, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, and Body horror

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual content

Minor: Vomit

errie's review against another edition

adventurous dark

2.5

Things I liked: 

- The magic system was interesting and kept me intrigued. 
- The atmosphere/settings were really well written - both creepy and comforting. 
- The writing/language was beautiful and vivid, I could clearly picture even some of the most dreamlike scenes. 

Things I didn’t like: 

- The characters weren’t very well fleshed out, the protagonists slightly more so than the bad guys who somehow managed to be morally grey and one dimensional at the same time. 

- The pacing of the book was not to my taste at all. There was climax after climax and it just kept going - The final 100 pages felt like a never-ending slog of action save for a brief, and what felt like very out of place, sex scene

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Death, and War

kitterring's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful fast-paced

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

4.25

I found the plot to move in leaps and starts, not unmanageable but noticeable. There were times I felt important parts of conversations weren’t had, and I would’ve loved some breathing room to understand the depth of the relationships better, especially the one between Agniezka and the dragon. With Kasia it was established they had years before the book to be childhood friends, but I would have liked to see the development more. 

I thought that the ending and the allegory was sweet and hopeful. Considering how dark things got to lead to that point, it felt like a gentle ending that was earned. It made sense and I was satisfied knowing how things got to where they did. I liked how many of the relationships were hard to interpret. There were a lot of conflicting interests and I enjoyed not knowing. The shallow nature of the court proceedings opposed to the people just trying to get by. Overall enjoyed this a lot. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Animal death, Child death, War, Alcohol, and Confinement

fraise's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, War, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Death of parent

Minor: Miscarriage and Vomit

protagonist has a sexual relationship with her much older mentor (technically they're both immortal, but she's only lived a normal lifespan for a young woman)

esme_may's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.5

I adored this! It's written absolutely beautifully with gorgeous imagery, and the ending is maybe my favourite I've read this year. I'd read more by Naomi Novik in a heartbeat

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and War

Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Medical content, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Confinement, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Minor: Genocide, Grief, Alcohol, Racism, Torture, Xenophobia, and Vomit

rebekablair's review against another edition

adventurous dark

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, War, Fire/Fire injury, Death, and Animal death

readingelli's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Sexual content and War

orchidlilly's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

Overall, subpar. The magic and world building are far more interesting than any of the characters could ever dream of being, which is a shame because we don't get to see much of it. The premise was interesting, the plot was an actual plot, but it could have been fleshed out so much better if it only had a bit more time. The ending was a semi-refreshing subversion of the expected romance ending, but it felt a bit rushed. The romance part itself was, in my opinion, wholly unnecessary and a bit unpleasant. The main romantic interest is an immortal while our mc is... 17-ish. Not to mention the attempted rape scene.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Grief, Kidnapping, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Bullying, Fatphobia, Gore, and War

Moderate: Mental illness, Death, Sexual harassment, Blood, Body horror, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Animal death, and Confinement

bookhoarderbea's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, War, Gore, Blood, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Vomit, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

eharms3's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I liked it, overall, as a fan of fairy tales and fantasy. Novik can write a page turner, and is expansive in the way she communicates the logic of the magic in her books, without being prescriptive. Selfish wish:

I wish the relationship between Agniezka and Kasia were the romantic one, rather than between Agniezka and Sarkan. It felt almost forced, with the age difference, and Sarkan’s dismissive and even cruel attitude toward Agnieszka for 95% of the story. Until he realized she had true magical power, that rivaled his own. Eye roll.  And… it was clear from beginning to end how much Agniezka and Kasia cared for one another! Maybe Novik or the editor thought the intended audience wasn’t ready for the obvious queer power couple of witch and warrior (but I definitely am always ready for the representation). 

 
I read a review on GoodReads that was highly critical of the tale in that it wasn’t necessarily rooted in actual Polish fairy tales, though, as a Polish-American who grew up with very little regional folklore (outside of the traditions of the Catholic Church), I appreciated the setting and nod to names of real places in Poland. As a result of reading this, my plan is to dig deeper into actual fairy tales and folklore, starting with The Glass Mountain (recommended by the above mentioned GoodReads reviewer). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and War

Moderate: Sexual assault