Reviews tagging 'Trafficking'

To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

6 reviews

thewillowwood's review

adventurous dark funny hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

I read this in one fell swoop during a long flight. I can’t think of any complaints. Well paced, interesting worldbuilding, loveable and complex characters. A fun, fast paced fantasy read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Body horror, Physical abuse, Murder, War, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse and Confinement

Minor: Trafficking and Slavery

anastasia_raf's review

adventurous dark 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? Yes

3.0

"Lira, a famous siren, must prove herself by stealing the heart of the man, a prince, threatening their race."

To kill a kingdom...more like to kill my time! Because that's what this book felt like. Fun time, a way to kill evening boredom. 

I felt nothing towards the characters to actually be scared for them or even care if they would survive or not. Still, I flew through it and I found the writing pleasant.

Honestly, the only reason I probably enjoyed most of it was because it was pirate-sea themed. The fast pace benefited the book and the almost constant action made it easier to follow. I couldn't help but cringe at the Greek used in the book. My first language is Greek, and I was disappointed that it felt like I was reading Google translation sentences sort of pieced together... Coherent enough to be cringy but also bad enough to be...well, cringy. I liked the way she used Greek words for the name of each kingdom. They were actually pretty well used! But the dialogues in Greek were, unfortunately, very poorly written. 
I appreciate the effort but  wish the author payed a little more attention to the grammar and translation of the dialogues.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Grief, Murder, Trafficking, Torture, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Slavery, and Vomit

thecasualbooknerd's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Self harm and Gore

Minor: Slavery, Genocide, and Trafficking

seasickkkkk's review

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gaslighting, Medical content, Murder, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, and War

tkatt20's review

adventurous dark inspiring 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? Yes

3.75

When I first started reading this book, I didn't like it at all. It seemed so descriptive that the story felt disconnected and confusing, but as I continued reading it I started to enjoy it a lot more and I'm happy I stuck through it and read to the end. I am not a fan of books that describe every detail of every character when you first meet them as I have trouble remembering everything but I made it through the first half of the book that happened less and less and I started enjoying the story a lot more. I didn't have high hopes for a satisfactory ending as i was finishing up this book, but to my surprise I feel like this story was wrapped up very nicely and in a quick enough manner that it didn't drag on and answered a lot of questions I had as I wasnearing the end. That alone redeemed it a lot more in my eyes. The romance between Lira and Elian felt very natural and I thoroughly enjoyed see the relationships between them and all the other characters you grow to love in this book. Each character has their own backstory that I would gladly read more of if given the chance.

While I dont see myself coming back to reread this any time in the future, it is good if you're looking for a book to pass the time,  even better if you're a fan of dark retellings of classic fairytales. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Death

Minor: Trafficking

ednam0dewannabe's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious sad 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

Finally, a book in which not only do they mention killer mermaids, but you also read how they murder sailors and princes! And let's not forget the romance, how I love well-constructed enemies to lovers! I need to get it on my physical shelf NOW.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, and Medical content

Minor: Genocide, War, Trafficking, and Slavery