Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi

18 reviews

talonsontypewriters's review

adventurous dark medium-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Fatphobia, Rape, Vomit, and Pandemic/Epidemic

aurora4847's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

4.0

I get the hype behind this series. The balance between political intrigue, action, and character development was perfect. I could not stop listening. It helps that I love the narrators' voices. I'm so excited to continue the series and see where everything is going next!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Body shaming, Child death, Fatphobia, Gore, Racial slurs, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Eating disorder, Sexual harassment, and War

This book is intense. There is a strong caste system with all the racism and classism that goes along with it. There are 2 public executions described with varying amounts of detail. Multiple characters experience the death of family members (including parents). The magic system is based on blood, so self harm for rituals is common. One caste suffers mutilation as children (process not described, only results). There is police brutality similar to that in the United States. There are flashbacks to child abuse, and multiple characters are involuntarily confined in varying spaces (including solitary confinement). The main character struggles with addiction through the whole story, and there are depictions of drug use, interventions, and withdrawal symptoms.

fanboyriot's review against another edition

slow-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

4.0

Read For:

✓ Slow Burn

✓ Queer POC

✓ Grumpy x Sunshine 

✓ Queernormative World 

✓ Interesting Magic System

˗ˏˋ ★ REVIEW ★ ˎˊ˗

Not going to lie this book intimidated me for the longest time, fantasy books with small fonts tend to do that.  However, I really enjoyed this book once I started reading it.  Both the world building and character development were done well.  The queer representation was done so nicely and the topics of addiction were written with care.  It showed addiction in a more realistic light than some books, and showed the cycle of abuse along with recovery.

While it was a little slower in the middle of the book the beginning and end really made up for it.  Overall, the hierarchy of the different colors of blood was such an interesting idea and played well into the plot.

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️

Angst Level: 💧💧

POV: Third Person 

Release Date: 23, June 2022

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Police brutality, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting

raynelib's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Gore, Self harm, Torture, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Ableism and Death

Minor: Death of parent

ford_defect's review against another edition

emotional 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

3.0

The beginning of this book is pretty rough. There were multiple times I thought about dnf'ing it (especially since it is so long). The pacing really needs some work. The beginning is super slow, and the main characters were pretty unlikeable (except Hassa) up until about 200-300 pages in. I also thought the treatment the Ghostings got was unnecessary up until 80% of the way through. When it all clicked together, though, my mind was blown. But what really annoyed me was all the fatphobic descriptions of Anoor. They lessened over time, but it rubbed me the wrong way. That, and the author put a lot of emphasis on how much Anoor enjoys food, which is another fatphobic stereotype. Another thing was how Sylah's addiction was portrayed. Major spoilers ahead.

I was so proud of her when she quit her joba seed use (albeit, she only quit cuz Anoor forced her to) and kept it under control throughout almost the entire book. But then, the author has her take a joba seed, so she can defeat Jond in Anoor's place during the trial of combat. And what's even worse: once she sees a healer after having relapsed, the healer tells her to essentially microdose for the rest of her life! I would rather have Sylah find a way to work around her seizures and tremors. The Ghostings have no tongues and no hands and they have found ways to talk and take care of themselves, so why can't Sylah find a workaround for her drug-induced disability? Like you wouldn't tell an alcoholic to keep drinking to prevent the DTs. You have to cut it out completely or it can ruin your life again.

And I had really gotten into the book by that point, too.

But anyway, now I'll talk about what I really liked about the book. The blood magic system was super cool. At first, I wasn't sure how much I liked needing to draw runes to fire a gun (since that would be pretty inefficient if you were slow at writing). Though, the longer I thought about it, the more it grew on me. Bloodwerk requires skill and dexterity, so not everyone would be good at it, which is a good challenge for the MCs that didn't know how to bloodwerk before. Secondly, the atmosphere was quite unique and immersive. Especially since the author wrote about the history of the world, too. The character development was also well done (with the exception of what I said about a part of Sylah's progress). I initially hated Anoor and Sylah, but they evolved so much. I was a little disappointed we didn't see more romance between them.

I came into this book thinking it was gonna be a sapphic romance... but it was more focused on Jond and Sylah's romance. The romantic scenes are still well-written, though. For both pairings.

So 3/5
I would have rated it 4/5 since it got really good halfway through, but I just can't forgive the author for how she portrays Sylah's addiction. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Fatphobia, Torture, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, and Dysphoria

franksalot's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Racism, Self harm, Torture, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: War

fairyollie's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense 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

5.0

it did not take me long at all to absolutely devour this book. full of political intrigue, a bisexual love triangle, complex societal expectations and norms all to similar to our own - this book has it all (and more)!!!

what I especially love about this book, as a queer disabled adult who uses sign language, is that disability, sexuality, gender, alternate/augmented means of communication, etc., are all simply facets of life. never do I see a book in which a main character - or so many characters - are disabled and it is not a "pity, shame, how sad, I could never, this is gonna advance so-and-so's character arc!", plot point or traumatic backstory. it simply is. there is so much more I wish I could say, but for fear of my big mouth and I spoiling a thing, let me leave you with this: I cannot recommend this book more; it is simply impossible. I beg you, please join me in this raw, open-hearted, desperate, vengeful quest for adventure and justice and give this series a try.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, and Classism

Moderate: Body shaming, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

porcupine_girl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Self harm, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Dysphoria

Minor: Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, and Fire/Fire injury

barda's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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

3.75

I really enjoyed the worldbuilding and diversity of characters in this book, though it was brought down by some flaws and overall tone.

I broadly liked the charactres, with Hassa being a standout in particular. I do wish she had more POV, but she was a delightfully mysterious character and her friendship with Sylah was heartwarming. The autocratic world that the author created was also very interesting, if not the most unique; I found that the twist regarding the map really opened up the world more and makes me eager to learn more in the next book. 

In terms of what I didn't like, it's a pet peeve of mine when the author switches POV's multiple times in one chapter with no breaks in between characters, and this book has tons of it. It also had some random characters that had only one or two POV's in the whole book and these seemed unnecessary. The romance(s) also seemed very abrupt and tacked on, and I wonder if the book would actually do better by removing romance entirely (though the book was very good at developing the overall friendship between Anoor and Sylah, if not the romance aspect). I also found the tone at times to be a bit too grimdark for my tastes; I can completely understand why the author wanted to show the horrors of slavery and discrimination, but the inclusion of sometimes graphic descriptions of death and torture made the happier moments between characters seem incongruous.

Overall, it was an interesting book to read and will be reading the next one, but I do hope that the issues with multiple POV's in particular are fixed in the next instalment.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Self harm, Slavery, Blood, and Colonisation

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Violence, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Murder, and War

bookstarbri's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

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

2.75

I wish I loved this :/ Idk, I think a big problem was that I didn't like one of the main characters, so it was a rocky start. I also didn't like that it took SO LONG for things to happen. I'm all for slow burn, and even prefer it in fantasy, but it felt like a lot of scenes could've been cut to move the plot along faster. Since it was a training kind of book, there was a ton of that, but then what they would be training for ended really quickly so the buildup didn't really feel worth it? For me, things didn't start getting really interesting until around page 400, and that was just too long to wait. There were some slight surprises before that point, but nothing that was super shocking. The ending is interesting and part of me is considering reading the sequel because the ending was so good, but I'm not sure. I will say that it did have a promising start for me and I LOVED Hassa, Anoor, Kwame, and Gorn. Though this wasn't for me, I can definitely see why it's beloved by so many. There's a lot of intricate thought put into this world and I did love reading that aspect of this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Drug abuse, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Self harm, and Kidnapping

Minor: Rape