Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna

72 reviews

sunberry's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

An absolutely incredible book. So hard to put down. The characters were engaging, interesting, and fun to root for. All kinds of twists that kept the book engaging. The magic elements were also a lot of fun. It has very dark themes, and heavily features abuse, but it is empowering as well as the characters overcome. The ending feels hopeful, but with knowledge of consequences.  Can't wait to pick up the sequel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Confinement, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Body horror, War, Religious bigotry, Death, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Classism, Vomit, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Body horror

Minor: Bullying and Mental illness

gigireadswithkiki's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.5

Wow, this book is exactly as violent as forewarned, but I didn't expect the plot to be so similar to the magical girl anime trope! The Guilded Ones follows young Deka as she's forced from her native misogynistic religious community upon discovering that she's unnatural and supernaturally immortal. Her only choice forward is death or enlistment into the emperor's army for other girls like her, alaki, in a quest to defeat the bloodthirsty Deathshrieks. 

I really enjoyed seeing Deka's initial character in the first half of the book. She felt like a truly accurate portrayal of a devout religious teenager, constantly admonished for daring to step the slightest bit out of line. Over time, Deka grows and flourishes with her little found family, but her character development felt natural along the progression of the plot. All of her friends, notably Britta and Belcalis, have distinct and unique personalities, and are unified under the banner of overcoming the misconceptions the world thrusts upon them. Most of all, despite Deka's romance arc, the story finds a way to center the importance of female friendships in a way that doesn't feel forced. 

When I first read of the 20-year-long contract the aleki forms with the government, I was curious about how the pacing of this, in tandem to the promised all-out campaign against the deathshrieks, would play out. At times, the plot will skip around a week or more into the future, but I found that this worked fairly well for the story, cutting out more mundane story points such as soldier training and travel time. 

I think my only issue with this book was the level of description for the violent scenes. I understand that alaki are immortal and virtually un-killable by human hands, but the depictions of gory stabbings and beheadings was a lot for me, especially for a YA book. There were also fairly numerous depictions of vomiting, both as a result of witnessing violence and as a symbol for unease, that was a little unsettling. 

Overall, I enjoyed this book a great deal as I devoured it in 24 hours, and I'm glad I was finally able to get around to reading it after it sat on my shelf for 6+ months!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Vomit, Sexism, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Gore and War

Minor: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

catorureads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Body horror, and Death

Moderate: Cursing and Vomit

Minor: Rape and Sexual violence

wirt's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Torture, Violence, Death, Sexism, Misogyny, and Murder

Moderate: Cursing

Minor: Death of parent, Vomit, and Sexual assault

whatjasread's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring 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

Enjoyed this more than I thought I would! Not too sure that I'm desperate to continue the series, but this book was very different to what I expected. The writing was great, though a little slow at times and could probably have been a little shorter with some decent editing. Plotwise this was predictable but not in a bad way, I enjoyed seeing the story unfold. I do wish there was a bit more focus on Deka's Uruni bond with Keita. I also wish the queer relationship was a bit more obvious and woven through the story, as it felt a bit like an afterthought.

TWs: racism, colourism, sexism, sexual harassment, illness, murder, graphic violence, gore, blood, death, stab wounds, torture, body-shaming, scarring, vomiting, ref to rape, sexual assault, fat-shaming, dismemberment, body horror, death of mother (before book)

Tropes/rep/themes: war, legends, sapphic SCs, found family, ritual bonding

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Body horror, Murder, Blood, Death, Child death, Torture, and War

Moderate: Sexism, Vomit, Racism, Body shaming, Sexual harassment, and Fatphobia

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Medical content

lucy_shanners's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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: Religious bigotry, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Genocide, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Child death, Child abuse, Blood, Body horror, Sexism, Misogyny, Violence, and War

Moderate: Racial slurs, Death of parent, Racism, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Bullying, Pedophilia, and Vomit

allycat23's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Vomit

chellcake's review against another edition

adventurous challenging inspiring mysterious 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: Sexism, Body horror, Gore, Blood, Torture, Religious bigotry, Child death, War, Misogyny, and Violence

Moderate: Racism, Physical abuse, Grief, Vomit, Self harm, Bullying, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Cursing, Colonisation, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Grief, Pedophilia, Rape, Confinement, Drug use, and Trafficking

geekywoman14's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

3.5

It's worth reading for the world building alone. There is a lot of trauma and sometimes it gets annoying with the secrecy and rules, but ultimately, the pay off makes it worth it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Sexual violence, Blood, Sexual assault, Sexism, and Gore

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Torture, Religious bigotry, Vomit, Gaslighting, and Confinement

bookcaptivated's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Blood, Torture, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Murder, Religious bigotry, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, War, Abandonment, Confinement, Genocide, Sexism, and Violence

Moderate: Slavery and Vomit

Minor: Death of parent, Lesbophobia, and Sexual assault