Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Malice by John Gwynne

22 reviews

missgarceau'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? It's complicated

3.5

I just really didn’t have a particularly fun time reading this tbh.

Had I checked content, I would have skipped it entirely.

Definitely do not recommend going in blind.

I did well with the prose, and overall plot and character development.

It’s only book 1- so there’s plenty left to be developed. That’s a given.
Like all big epics- I was mentally prepared for the information overwhelm. The amount of characters could give Wheel of Time a run for its money. 

I was disappointed in the strategies and political plots. Felt very “made for TV” and typically why I avoid political plots, in general.

A part of me felt like this was the typical “dude fantasy” that I avoid at all costs. I’m not entirely sure that’s inaccurate.

But, I still binged the shit out of it- and immediately dove into the second book. Guess that means I didn’t complete hate it. It’s complicated.

Commentary re CW:

The animal brutality was just sooooo unnecessary and I’m pretty sure NO ONE WANTS THAT!!! It was… a LOT! And the sound effects were just insult to injury. I wanted to DNF and chuck the entire thing sooooo many times. But people I trust have convinced me to carry on.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

roorooreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.75

This book was an emotional ride. Punches were not pulled and I had a great time meeting and leanring about all the characters. I did have to take notes so i could keep everyone straight at first and it was slow on the beginning but after that, especially at the end, I couldn't put it down. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying

Minor: Alcoholism and Self harm

corlif's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Bullying and Child abuse

kliberty21's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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

4.25

Malice is a slow burn with a BIG pay-off. There is a large cast of characters, but once they are introduced and the web begins to spin, and the wheels start turning, strap yourself in for one incredible ride!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Death of parent, and War

Minor: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, and Torture

rase's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Misogyny, Blood, and Grief

thoughtsontomes's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense 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

4.5

There is a lot of setup in this book for the greater conflict of the overall series, and as such it is pretty heavy. There’s a tension building throughout and a lot of characters involved. It can be confusing at first, especially since some storylines are similar, but they start to differentiate as the book goes on. This is a series with a lot of character death though, so be warned. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Gore, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Ableism and War

multiple dog deaths

chrisb913's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I am incredibly shocked this was a debut novel. The way Gwynne had me gripped to the edge of my seat as I devoured this story. I had heard there was slow pacing and that is factual. But I could not put this book down. The character work for me was phenomenal. The way he incorporated so many povs into this story, yet still was able to seamlessly weave the narrative between them and progress the overarching plot between so many different subplot going on. If this was his first novel, and everything gets better from here? I cannot wait to continue on.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Death of parent, and War

Minor: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, and Torture

isi__1's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

What a pleasant surprise this was! This book was exactly what I needed at the moment. It‘s a very typical adult epic fantasy book with a lot of common tropes. Even though this book certainly didn‘t reinvent the wheel, I do think that it executed everything quite well. 
I do have to admit that the first half or so didn‘t entirely manage to pull me in. It was a bit slow-going. There was a lot of exposition and it took a while to get to know the different p.o.v. characters, the world, and figuring out where the plot was headed. This was to be expected, seeing as this is a 4-book adult epic fantasy series. The 1st book in such a series always takes some time setting up the characters, world, magic, and plot. 
I was also not having the highest expectations because I‘ve heard a lot of people (even fans of the series) say that this first instalment isn‘t the best and that the series just gets better and better with each book. 
Even in the beginning, I was nevertheless intrigued to see where this is going, even though I wasn‘t fully immersed yet. 
After that, though, things just started escalating all of a sudden. I could barely put the book down in the second half. I was at the edge of my seat. Especially the ending blew me away. I was shocked the entire way through. It was amazing! 
Even though the start was a bit slow and the pacing was a little weird at times, I ended up feeling connected to the characters. So, when bad things started happening, it made me quite upset, because I cared about the well-being of the main characters and important side characters. 
I kept wanting to know what would happen next. The plot became quite fast-paced towards the end. Overall, the world-building I‘ve seen so far seems very interesting, although I‘m pretty sure I‘ve barely scratched the surface. 
This first instalment seems like a solid setup for the series to come. I can‘t wait to read the next book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, and Death of parent

hails2dabails's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Bullying

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, and Alcohol

lejones1785's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.25

Not for the faint of heart. There are a lot of characters and storylines to keep track of. I loved every minute of it. It's like game of thrones without bad language and nakiness. I had a hard time putting this book down because I was so invested in the characters and the stories. My only complaint is to be prepared for a cliffhanger. I can't wait to start the next book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Violence, and War