Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Iron Gold by Pierce Brown

30 reviews

grim_swim's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.5

Definitely felt a bit broken-backed under its own weight. 

I love the new characters but Iron Gold suffered from poor pacing and some various cliche action scenes. I also feel that Pierce could use some work on his character voice.

It’s kinda weird that the first book of the original trilogy and the first book of the sequel series seem to be the weakest of the lot, but the book leaves off in an interesting position. I’m looking forward to reading what comes next!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Cannibalism, Death, War, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

meridith_bex'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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Violence, Classism, Torture, Kidnapping, Murder, War, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Drug abuse, Addiction, and Drug use

Minor: Confinement

kiwij96's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

3.25

This was so unnecessarily long, some parts of chapters felt like filler, even some of the chapters themselves. It took half the book just to get to the plot, by which point I hated ¾ of the characters. It was riddled with typos and grammar mistakes which was entirely distracting and resulted in me having to reread parts just for it to make sense in my head.

I liked the concept though, multiple POVs surrounding a high-stakes heist, set 10 years after Darrow succeeds in ending Octavia's rule and liberating the Colours. This sees Darrow believing his own legend and how things cannot truly change in a broken system. I loved Lyria and I look forward to getting to know her better in Dark Age. Lysander's POV felt out of place in the greater scheme of things. And I definitely need more of Volga and Kavax. I also loved Holiday and Theodora essentially playing the secret service. My favourite ladies.

All in all though, this book was a disappointment compared to the original trilogy. It was over-gory, sexist, and an incredibly uncomfortable read with the amount of times the word "wh*re" was thrown around. I also do not understand Pierce Brown's obsession with breasts and general nakedness in this book it was honestly unnecessary.

Also, if the summary on the back of the book hints at "Obsidian pirates" and there are none, I need to know where they went and what else didn't make the cut in the editing process if THIS is what went to print.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Body shaming, Murder, Racial slurs, Slavery, Addiction, Blood, Torture, Gun violence, Bullying, Body horror, Child death, Classism, Death, Genocide, Death of parent, Racism, Toxic friendship, Violence, War, Drug use, Gore, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, and Pregnancy

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

crazyras101's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

jgruman's review

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, War, and Violence

Moderate: Kidnapping and Child death

murrayscottferguson's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Medical trauma, Racism, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, War, Violence, Emotional abuse, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Gore, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Toxic friendship, Blood, Genocide, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Sexism, Slavery, Classism, Grief, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Confinement, and Drug abuse

inhaledmocha's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Violence, Grief, Murder, and War

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

headrook's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The start of a new trilogy in the same series adds three other first person perspectives of characters who existed only on the fringes of the original Red Rising series. Each has a unique voice but because it does take time to build their character and their back story, it does take time. When finally the final climax builds, the pace speeds up and all the pieces align satisfactorily. The voices of these four narrators are distinct and reveal their flawed natures, but they show growth by the end. Importantly, they show different perspectives of how Darrow’s actions in the original series affected everyone he touched and lays bare his and his ideals’ flaws. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

litagentsaritza's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I’m not a big fan of political warfare and this one has a lot of build up in the first 2/3 of the book. I think I liked the story more when it was just Darrow’s POV. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, and Kidnapping

kmele's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and War