Reviews tagging 'Torture'

A Promise of Fire by Amanda Bouchet

11 reviews

hedgew1tch's review

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

2.25

”He abducted me. He threatened my friends. He kept me tied to him with a magic rope. I couldn’t even pee by myself. He’s awful.”       “You’ll get over it.” Jocasta cheerfully throws my own words back at me. “See you at dinner.”


No, just no. 

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louisallama's review against another edition

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

2.25

The book started out fairly strong, and I enjoyed the banter between Cat and Griffin and all the side characters were fun, but that's about it. 
Cat is in a constant cycle of 'I feel so drawn to Griffin but I can't trust or love him because of my mysterious (and horrifically obvious) past, but oops I'm telling him things I swore I'd never tell anyone and now I'm kissing him back and then hitting him immediately after'. Seriously, she goes back and forth every other page, it's infuriating, and she's not portrayed as mature or serious enough to pull it off well.
Griffin ends up being pretty abusive towards Cat imo. He never lets her make her own decisions, never trusts her word, is insanely jealous and possessive of her, and there ends up being a lot of dubious consent in the latter half of the book. 
Also *spoilers for the ending* 
isn't Cat supposed to have magical self healing powers? How come that never comes up at the end of the book when she's stabbed in the gut by Daphne and is bleeding to death? Unless I'm blind, there's not even a throwaway line to hand-wave it away because she's ~too weak~ from using her powers all night. She can get in the way of dragon fire and the arrow that fried her to a crisp and put her arms in a ball of flames and be absolutely dandy, but she can't self heal enough from a knife to the gut to go get help? Correct me if I'm wrong because that's the biggest dumb as shit plot hole.

The plot wasn't strong enough to make up for these overwhelming character flaws, and while the writing was decent, I'm not surprised that this is a debut novel. 

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mimi30's review against another edition

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

3.0

I had hoped for a little more from this book. It has all the necessary things for a great adventure/ fantasy book but some things fell short or hindered it. The romance was one aspect. Griffin doesn't know what the word no means. Cat's lust for Griffin doesn't make sense to me with the amount of hate she has after the kidnapping. So their relationship, to me, needed more buildup? And more character development.
I'm going to read the next one purely for Cat's secrets and to find out more about the gods. Hopefully the romance is better than the 1st book.

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annabelle's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated

3.0

This was a fun read with an interesting world. Unfortunately, the relationship development was a bit clunky to me and I didn’t love the writing style. 

Also, I don’t think there was enough plot payoff at the end of this book… the book just kinda ended without any big reveals or conclusions. I enjoyed it enough to continue the series and I’m interested to see what happens next but I definitely didn’t love this. 

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katkfern's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I haven’t immediately been sucked into a book in a while, but this one had me wanting to do nothing but read as soon as I picked it up. Yes, Cat is kind of immature (though I’m hoping that’s starting to change), and yes, certain things seem kind of predictable and obvious
(hi, there’s a lost princess and an angry Andr(M)omeda),
but still. I’ve been needing a book like this one.

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katievallin's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0


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honeyb's review against another edition

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adventurous dark slow-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

2.5

Just mediocre. The characters lacked depth and the plot was vague at best. i understand that the FMC’s past is a mystery to be revealed throughout the series, but absolutely NOTHING was explained. There were little explanations for named locations or
why  gods favor certain individuals
.
and after the MCs sleep together, the FMC is healed with the MMC’s magical excretion?! i almost added this book to my DNF list…
. The FMC is stubborn which I love in fantasy romance novels, but the MMC kept pushing her into accepting his advances by countering her dismissals with “you will soon” or “you were made for me”. If i did not know of the FMC’s thoughts, i would’ve labeled him as a coercive douchbag. Overall, the book is an easy read with plenty of smut from chapter 17 onward, the world building lacked a bit but is understandable due to the mystery surrounding the FMC’s past. 

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kathis_wonderland's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious 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

3.0

Glutnacht von Amanda Bouchet ist der erste Teil der Tochter der Götter Trilogie/Kingmaker Chronicles. Cat hat besondere Fähigkeiten und muss daher untertauchen, um nicht gefunden zu werden. Griffin, der Anführer einer Rebellengruppe, braucht Cats Fähigkeiten, um sich die Macht im Reich zu sichern. Und er holt sich auch was er braucht, ob Cat möchte oder nicht. Auf dem Weg zum Machtzentrum des Reiches kommen sich die beiden aber immer näher. Es stehen ihnen aber viele Hürden im Weg, denn Cat ist viel mehr als sie zugibt zu sein.
 
Ein Buch mit griechischer Mythologie konnte ich selten ausschlagen und da es nun schon sehr lange her ist, dass ich ein solches Buch gelesen habe, habe ich mich umso mehr gefreut. Ganz begeistert war ich aber doch nicht vom Buch. Das Konzept hinter der Geschichte finde ich sehr interessant. Es gibt Magie und griechische Gottheiten mischen sich in das Leben der Menschen ein. Exactly my cup of tea! Auch der Schreibstil war voll in Ordnung. Ich bin nur weniger begeistert von Griffin. Sein Verhalten fand ich sehr nervig und toxisch. Einen Teil seiner Motivation kann ich verstehen, da er Cats Fähigkeiten wirklich braucht, aber so wie er sie behandelt, ist einfach nicht okay. Die Entführung lasse ich mich noch einreden, weil es zur Geschichte passt. Und das magische Seil ist auch so eine Grauzone für mich. Cat jedoch absolut keinen Freiraum und keine Privatsphäre zu geben, finde ich widerlich. Zum Glück kann sich Cat unsichtbar machen. Was ich hier jedoch nicht verstehe ist, dass Griffin ja einfach das Seil woanders hätte festbinden können. Pausenlos an ihm festgebunden zu sein finde ich absolut nicht okay. Da hatten die anderen Herren in Griffins Team etwas mehr Verstand und kritisierten ihn auch dafür. Daher mag ich die anderen Krieger auch recht gerne. Hier hat sich zwischen ihnen und Cat eine tolle Freundschaft geformt.
 
Griffins Eifersucht hat mich auch sehr gestört. Er hatte wirklich keinen Grund dazu. Seien Freunde sind ihm gegenüber zu loyal, um ihm die Freundin auszuspannen. Er soll froh sein, dass Cat so schnell eine gute Freundschaft mit seinen Freunden geknüpft hat. Griffin ist auch wahnsinnig besitzergreifend. Recht schnell sieht er Cat als seinen Besitz und gibt alles, um sie zu Seinem zu machen. So ein Verhalten finde ich ganz schlimm. Er akzeptiert Cats Grenzen nicht und küsst sie, obwohl sie laut und deutlich nein sagt. Cat hat zwar hier auch ein ganz komisch Verhalten, macht das aber eher zum Selbstschutz und auch um Griffin zu schützen, aus Gründen, die nur angedeutet werden. Cat entwickelt aber auch sehr schnell Gefühle für ihn. Hier schwingt ein Stockholm-Syndrom mit... Die beiden haben eine tolle Chemie, es sprühen richtig die Funken (gute und schlechte) und sie passen auch gut zusammen, aber einfach der Weg dorthin und ihr Verhalten gefallen mir nicht gut. Konsens scheint in Fremdwort in diesem Buch zu sein.
 
Da das Buch überraschenderweise nicht mit einem Cliffhanger aufgehört hat, habe ich auch nicht wirklich das Bedürfnis diese Serie fertig zu lesen. Interessant wäre es schon, aber es muss für mich nicht unbedingt sein. Das Buch war nicht schlecht aber auch nicht wirklich gut. Vielleicht habe ich irgendwann die Möglichkeit weiterzulesen. 

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ellariawrites's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-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? No

4.25

I really enjoyed this book, the world, and the characters. I did have a few problems with it though. 

1. Griffen is very possessive. That quality ranged from endearing at times to incredibly uncomfortable and problematic. The way he expressed his anger was quite intense as well. This is a story of a girl falling for her captor so keep that in mind when reading. 

2. I don’t like the way Cat talks about or thinks about her body. It felt very fatphobic at times. It’s wasn’t even important to the plot so I don’t see the reason to constantly bring up her desire to not gain more weight. 

3. Daphne. Everything about her character and her plot. 

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cocpop_reads's review against another edition

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

4.0

This is a reread for me. And I think it’s even better the second time around. I love seeing hints that give away who Cat is but don’t make sense on a first time read because there is no context.

Cat is hysterical, love her and she definitely has some character growth in this book but I know she’s got a ways to go.

Griffin, I feel like I don’t really know him because this is all from Cat’s POV. But the way this man is a goner for Cat, I love that.

1/5 on the spice scale. I feel like there’s more tension in this book than anything else. Also the one explicit sex scene we get, it’s not very descriptive. 

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