Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Kings Cage by Victoria Aveyard

14 reviews

bzliz's review against another edition

dark tense 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? Yes

3.5

The action sequences really shine here. They are so gripping and exciting but they are concentrated toward the end of the book. The beginning half is focused on Mare’s captivity and a lot of it is pretty boring. I know I’ve read this before but I didn’t remember any of it so I’d forgotten how much that portion drags. Some of those scenes do contain important tidbits that allow Mare to gain some insight but much of it feels like a way to pass the time. 

The introduction of multiple POVs is a blessing and a curse. It gives readers a break from Mare’s doldrums and lets them glimpse what is going on with the Scarlet Guard and later with the Silver houses, however Cameron and Evangeline’s voices are almost identical to Mare’s. Victoria Aveyard is a competent writer but she did not do a good job distinguishing her narrators in this book. 

I can see why a lot of people seem to give up on the series here but I am still excited to read the next book, which I don’t think I finished the first time I read this series. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Gore

the_prophecy_13's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

3.25

The bad:

• The bath scene. What. was that.
• The pacing in the first 60% of the book is very drawn-out.
  It feels like Victoria was just giving Mare more trauma for the heck of it. I don't particularly like Mare, but I don't want her to be miserable constantly! Girlie got to be happy for, like, three chapters in the entire book
• Speaking of Mare's trauma, it's not well done. I do like that she has some PTSD symptoms, but I wish the book delved deeper into them. I feel like some of the things she went through should have affected her a whole lot more than "she flinches when this person is nearby bc they hurt her :((("
• Mare is inconsistent. She seems to flip-flop between personalities (fiery, stubborn, and proud; competent and friendly; paranoid and uncertain; vacant and hopeless), and I know some of that could be due to trauma, but I feel like she's just an inconsistent character overall. 
• Also, Mare says "the shadow of the flame" again. Victoria. I am begging you to stop. Flames do not have shadows. I repeat, FLAMES DO NOT HAVE SHADOWS. PLEASE Google it. (I don't know why this bothers me so much, lol.)
• Relating to the above, some of the writing was just... cringe. I don't care enough to go back through the book to find examples, but it sometimes felt like Victoria was trying too hard to be all edgy and poetic and deep. Girl, it's an average YA. Don't take yourself so seriously.
• I didn't like Cameron's POV chapters. She's just annoying. It's bad enough seeing her through Mare's eyes.

The good: 

• The ending (the last 100 pages or so) was quite good, as usual in this series, and kept me engaged.
  The final battle was very tense and felt realistic for the parties involved.
• Evangeline, surprisingly, got very compelling all of a sudden.
  She's still not a good person, but I empathize more with her now that she's not just a bully. I'm hoping for more POV chapters.
• Mare's dynamics with other characters were so much better than in previous books. Her and Cal have much better chemistry and interactions
  (though it's a shame they're only around each other for the last 40% or so of the book)
  . Mare and Farley are great as sorta sister-figures. Mare and Cameron get some sorely-needed bonding time (in, like, the last 10% of the book. Cameron was irritating for the first 90%). Mare and Kilorn are very sweet (well, y'know, as sweet as two bickering besties can be)
• The politics, factions, etc were fairly well done, although I'd have to analyze in more detail to be sure lol

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Genocide, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Cursing, Sexual content, Grief, and Alcohol

sweetchocolatez's review against another edition

emotional sad tense slow-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

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror and Pregnancy

Minor: Gore, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Alcohol

mbrogs2024's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Vomit, and Pregnancy

Minor: Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol

wrappingpaper's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny slow-paced

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

3.5

I flew through about 75% of this book, took a break for a few months and found it pretty difficult to get stuck back into. Overall I feel like the plot really carries this book, not the writing or characters. Mare is less annoying but I didn’t really like the ending and her reaction in it. 
I did however enjoy the multiple povs to get a break from constant Mare and an insight into other characters. 
In general I feel like this book could’ve told the same story in a lot less pages so I’m slightly worried for War Storm bc  imo as these books get bulkier the pace slows down. 
Overall I still enjoyed this book, still gonna finish the series (at some point) , just didn’t enjoy it that much compared to the first books. I have hopes it’ll pick up again tho. 
I still recommend this series to people who are into dystopian ya fantasy politics all that stuff. 
A lot of gore, murder and mentions of trauma/ptsd tho so don’t read if you’re sensitive to that 👍

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence, Blood, Grief, and Classism

Minor: Vomit and Alcohol

kenzie_simone456's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and War

adeena23's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Minor: Child death, Slavery, Blood, and Pregnancy

anniereads221's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

4.0

The only thing I love about these books is Maven. He is such a complicated character and I love him dearly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

PTSD

felicia's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Violence, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gore, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

readwithde'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? It's complicated

4.25

I really enjoyed this book. Having the characters split gave them some extra time for progression (both character and plot).

While I get why Mare would be kept prisoner for so long, I would have preferred more interactions with the court, if not with Maven.

Even bringing in Evangeline's POV chapters earlier would have helped that section fill out a bit more, even if it tipped her family's hand a bit.

Cameron was an interesting POV for the Scarlet Guard/red side of things, which again left much of the political machinations off the page, but at least gave the basics. Even Kilorn would have been a better choice, in my opinion. 

I feel like the final third of the book dragged a bit, at least up until the climax,

the second battle at Corvium.

It just felt like the pacing was off after

Mare was rescued by the Scarlet Guard.

I think there was too much build up in the beginning that didn't leave enough room for the three bigger battles.

Finally,

I know we should want Cal to choose Mare, but I don't think he's wrong to ask Mare to choose him instead. I'm hoping there is a way for compromise in the final book, but I'm happy that each of them are actually dealing with what they want instead of throwing away their convictions, training, or lives.

Overall, this was a strong sequel, and I was surprised by a few things; I'm very excited to read the final book and the short stories.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Gaslighting

Minor: Emotional abuse, Genocide, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Torture, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment