Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Bloed en beenderen by Tomi Adeyemi

52 reviews

abutler's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Genocide, Violence, Xenophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gore, Slavery, Torture, and Blood

sarah984's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

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

2.0

For the first 200 pages, this was a 4-star read for me. The world is vast and interesting, the magic system is cool, and I loved the idea of an epic quest novel (take the artifacts to the Place and do the Ritual) that's not set in generic medieval European fantasyland. The characters’ conflicts felt realistic and while they could be a little impulsive it was understandable because they're teens. 

Then I hit the halfway point and the plot ground to a halt to do this extremely generic reylo-style romance (complete with force bond and nonsensical insta love) and then just one stupid thing after another happened and all of the goodwill the first half had generated burned off immediately. There is an extremely graphic torture scene involving one of the female characters that is told through the lens of how the most boring male character in existence feels about it.

I also don't like books where the oppressed people are shown to be extremely dangerous, especially when the author is clearly linking their plight to real-world oppression, and this got worse in the second half.

I liked the plot twist at the end (though it was really unclear why that happened) but not enough to save the reading experience for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Genocide, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Stalking

Minor: Infidelity, Sexual content, Vomit, and Trafficking

oliverreeds's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

4.75

everything i wrote was deleted. i spent 15 minutes on this review. the short and skinny since i won’t be rewriting it: the characters are waffle-y

looking at you, inan and you zeili

i also just realized i’ve done ever spoiler up until this point wrong. the romances should have been gay 

looking at YOU zeili and amari bc the straight romances have. no. chemistry. at. all.

and lastly i was confused on a plot point which could have been my fault

the raid was only like ten years ago and that’s when magic went away when king whoever interrupted a ritual but this ritual only occurs every hundred years and it’s coming up agajn after only ten… maybe i misread though

anyways good book but should have been gayer

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, and Alcohol

leonardodicaprisun96's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Gore and Death of parent

battybookworm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense 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

4.5

This was a book I've had on my shelves forever, and once I actually got over the hurdle of starting it, I could not put it down. This giant book came with me everywhere and it was very fun to read. I loved Zelie and Amari's chapters, and even Inan after a period. I think the author did the separation of their voices incredibly well and the characters' shifts and growth were developed and lovely to read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Colonisation

Moderate: Animal death, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, and Toxic relationship

batwinggoth's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Self harm, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Stalking

Minor: Confinement, Cursing, and Police brutality

angelinepro's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Torture, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

lj_parkinson's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Blood, Grief, and Death of parent

amt's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring fast-paced

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

4.0

A good book! Was much darker than I expected, especially for a YA novel. Head the content warnings.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this novel. The action-packed scenes got me hooked. But I found myself getting exhausted from the fast plot pace. I think it's the book's weakest point - many of the characters and scenes aren't allowed to breath and settle. Characters fall in love in a matter of pages; they pass through forests and deserts within a 2 page chapter. I felt myself disconnecting from characters and their decisions because of this. But truly, it's a fun fantasy read. I loved that it was set in West Africa, and the magic is very unique. Will probably get around to reading the sequel, but it's not on my immediate list, especially if the pace is similar to this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent

natalieba's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder