Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi

9 reviews

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.

avocadosocks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Child death, Confinement, Fatphobia, and Excrement

kimreads14's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

I absolutely LOVED this book! 
I had a hard time at first, because of Sylah’s addiction she just made me so angry most of the time 😂

But oh am I glad I stuck with it! The world building, the magic system, EVERY SINGLE ASPECT OF THIS BOOK WAS PERFECT! 

Oh and the plot twistS 🧑‍🍳💋 yes with a “S” because I could honestly not fully keep track of everything! I’m sure I missed some very important details for the next book! But I’ll probably re-read it when my hard copy arrives ☺️

Can’t wait to dive into the second one! 🥰

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Excrement, Grief, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

_james_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

Minor: Cursing, Excrement, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, and Toxic friendship

booksalacarte's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

3.5

The Final Strife- 3.5⭐️ 3🌶️

Red is the blood of the elite, of magic, of control.

Blue is the blood of the poor, of workers, of the resistance.

Clear is the blood of the slaves, of the crushed, of the invisible.

Sylah dreams of days growing up in the resistance, being told she would spark a revolution that would free the empire from the red-blooded ruling classes’ tyranny. That spark was extinguished the day she watched her family murdered before her eyes.

Anoor has been told she’s nothing, no one, a disappointment, by the only person who matters: her mother, the most powerful ruler in the empire. But when Sylah and Anoor meet, a fire burns between them that could consume the kingdom—and their hearts.

Hassa moves through the world unseen by upper classes, so she knows what it means to be invisible. But invisibility has its uses: It can hide the most dangerous of secrets, secrets that can reignite a revolution. And when she joins forces with Sylah and Anoor, together these grains of sand will become a storm.

As the empire begins a set of trials of combat and skill designed to find its new leaders, the stage is set for blood to flow, power to shift, and cities to burn

✨My Opinion✨

Slow burn

Sapphic

Missed legacy

Classism

Revolution

Slow paced

Switched at birth

Grumpy sunshine

Rivals to lovers

It was a good read, but not mind blowing. I am happy with continuing the series, but not desperate for the next book.

The backstory and world building was expansive and very thorough. I was amazed by how in depth everything went. It was really well done. The magic system was unique in its introduction. I’m looking forward to reading more about it.

It was slow going for the first half of the book. The plot finally getting traction didn’t make up for the lulls, in my opinion. 

I was a little put out with things being mentioned multiple times before being physically described, case in point; Erus. I didn’t even realize it was a giant sand lizard until it was being ridden when Sylah delivering the dresses… I thought it was like a camel or donkey. I still don’t have a clear mental picture of what it looks like, or how it pulls a carriage! 

The main characters could have been flushed out a little more. Sylah was very hard to like. Really hard. Most of the book is her dealing with addiction and grief. Her personality beyond that was pretty petulant. Anoor was childish as well, but I would have enjoyed a more solid arc into her maturity. I often forgot that I was reading new adult rather than young adult, until the in the story spice happened.

Disability rep, but only because of mass mutilation as infants. Brutal, but I guess I understand how it plays into the plot. Hassa was a great character that wasn’t explored more until the second half of the book, and even then seemingly as a throwaway addition. Her story line was more compelling than the main one, by far!

I wish that the trials would have been more prevalent in the story telling. They felt really important in leading up to them, then glossed over when we finally got to them. It would have been great character building to see them more thoroughly through Anoor’s eyes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Colonisation

gagereadsstuff's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Torture, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, and Grief

tilda_002's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

This book is a fantasy novel in which colour of your blood dictates the class you are in within society. Those with red blood  are the embers “the elites” of society, then are those with blue bloods who are the dusters and below them are those who have translucent blood who are called ghostings. The story follows our main protagonist Sylah as she enters a competition called the Aktibar a competition that takes place every 10 years. Due to a series of unfortunate events she gets sidelined and it’s forced into training a Duster raised by an Ember called Anor.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Excrement

cozyscones's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Torture

Minor: Excrement and Vomit

carochacord's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, and Blood

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Slavery, Torture, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, War, and Classism

Minor: Bullying, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Colonisation