Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Il re delle cicatrici by Leigh Bardugo

105 reviews

eguare's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny 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

I enjoyed this more than the original Shadow & Bone trilogy, not as much as the Six of Crows duology. This book was a happy return for beloved characters, but I wasn't always happy with where they went.

While I loved hearing more from Nina, I was heartbroken that the found family of the Crows broke up so thoroughly after Crooked Kingdom. It was also too soon after Matthias to enjoy Nina's burgeoning tension with Hanne (though I adore that Nina is canonically bisexual).

I loved seeing Nikolai and Zoya continue to develop

both independently and together

. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Gun violence, Violence, Grief, and War

Moderate: Religious bigotry and Dysphoria

bergha1998's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective 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

4.0

I hadn’t done enough research to even realize this one should be read after the Shadow & Bone Trilogy & the Six of Crows Duology, but luckily I did read it after. I found it really fun & insightful to finally have Zoya & Nikolai’s POVs, but also so happy to get Nina’s again too. The duo storylines were interesting, too, but with all Nina’s grief I did find Zoya/Nikolai’s more compelling. 

Found Family, No True Romance Subplots

“Each spine had been an open doorway whispering, Come in, come in. Here is a land you’ve never seen before. Here is a place to hide when you’re frightened, to play when you’re bored, to rest when the world seems unkind.”

“Hope was the wind that came from nowhere to fill your sails and carry you home.”

“It must be easy to ponder the universe, safe in your palace, away from the petty, brutal dealings of man. Maybe you don’t remember what it is to be powerless. I do.”

“You’ve spent your life only choosing the paths at which you knew you could excel. It’s made you lazy.”

“Most of us can hide our greatest hurts and longings. It’s how we survive each day. We pretend the pain isn’t there, that we are made of scars instead of wounds.“

“Stop punishing yourself for being someone with a heart. You cannot protect yourself from suffering. To live is to grieve. You are not protecting yourself by shutting yourself off from the world. You are limiting yourself.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

alyssadavis's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

“Zoya of the lost city. Zoya of the garden. Zoya bleeding in the snow. You are strong enough to survive the fall.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Violence, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, and War

Minor: Drug abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

jenna2234's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.25

I love this book but I have to admit it was slow

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder

chronicacademia's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexism, Violence, Pregnancy, and War

serendipity421's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Misogyny

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

shelvesofivy's review against another edition

dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Medical content, Pregnancy, and War

zoey_blk's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

A solid read. I enjoyed Nina's pov the most and I was much more invested in her story than in Nikolais and Zoyas. I still enjoyed spending time with these familiar characters that are so dear to me. I'm hoping for Crow more references in the next book, those keep me alive. Maybe Leoni meeting Jesper, Inej meeting Zoya and the gang, Kaz and Nikolai reuniting, that would be fun. And I want Jarl Brum realizing who Nina is + a hero speech by Nina. She deserves a lil revenge. It's so random that ma boy Aleksander is back, but I'm not complaining. I know he's like evil and stuff, but I can't help being happy we get to see him again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, and Pregnancy

aliyachaudhry's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Sexual assault, and Trafficking

Minor: Xenophobia and Vomit

onefineelephant's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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

4.5

9/10. I loved this book. I don't think I liked it more than the Six of Crows books, but that's because I'm a sucker for found family. I love Nikolai, Zoya, Nina, and Hanne. The only part that I didn't like was that it felt like I was reading two separate books - one about Nikolai and Zoya and another about Nina and Hanne. It didn't feel like the two connected or overlapped very much, so when I would read a chapter from one of their POVs, then I wanted to keep reading that story rather than switching to a completely different story (that I also liked and then the cycle would continue). I'm guessing the two stories will converge in the next book, but I think this book felt off because of the unrelated stories. Love the Grishaverse, though. This series continues to surprise me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Child death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Death of parent, and War