Reviews tagging 'Grief'

A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon

77 reviews

questingnotcoasting's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional 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? No

5.0

The Priory Of The Orange Tree is one of my favourite books so I had extremely high expectations for this and I was very pleased to find it lived up to them. I enjoyed this just as much as Priory, possibly more. I did make the mistake of starting it while I was tired and it took me several days to really get into it but after that I didn't want to stop. I was excited to return to this world and get to know the new characters, all of whom I ended up loving. The way their plots weave together was very satisfying and I also enjoyed seeing how motherhood was a strong theme throughout. It was also fascinating to see the connections between the two books and consider what it would be like to read this one first. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, Violence, and War

aileron's review against another edition

adventurous tense slow-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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, War, Violence, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, and Animal death

Minor: Suicide, Cannibalism, and Child death

aseel_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.5

I'm obsessed with how gender and sexualities were incorporated into this fantasy so easily. Like it so diverse and done so well!! I really liked the characters and just the world building was superb, huge fan

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Confinement, Gore, War, Grief, Death of parent, Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, and Violence

gracewiley's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Death

Moderate: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Animal death, and Body horror

Minor: Confinement, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Child death, Sexual content, Medical content, and Xenophobia

micheala's review against another edition

4.5

I really enjoyed Priory, and I enjoyed this one even more. 

This one takes place 500 years before Priory, however I would still recommend reading it after Priory. There are a couple of world building things that get revealed as Priory progresses that are introduced much sooner in ADoFN that I think would take away some enjoyment from Priory. 

ADoFN has more POVs, but they are better balanced then in Priory. I actually found myself interested in all of them, despite seeing certain character reveals coming from a long way off.

 I also think the character work in general was more effective this time. I loved the breadth of relationships we see, with Tunuva and Esbar's being my personal favourite. 

One of my critics about Priory was how abrupt the final battle felt, and this one doesn't have that issue at all. As well, I just think the pacing and how all the POVs interconnect is better done. 

In general, I think that ADoFN is just slightly better written. It's not perfect, but I am interested in seeing any other snapshots in time in this world that the author chooses to write. 

If you have the chance, the audiobook has a wonderful interview with the author at the end that is well worth the listen. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Grief, and Violence

Minor: Cannibalism

the_bees_books's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.25

For fans of The Priory of the Orange Tree, diverse fantasy worlds and sword weilding dragon riders, too. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, War, Violence, Religious bigotry, Grief, Misogyny, and Genocide

Moderate: Animal death, Xenophobia, Pregnancy, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer, Vomit, Sexism, and Terminal illness

ezwolf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

I think, if it's possible, I loved A Day of Fallen Night even more than Priory of the Orange Tree! As I was before, I am in awe of the worldbuilding. 

One of the things I loved most is not something big, but it stood out to me, in the way that queerness was casual. The way people in the priory weren't chained to the duties assigned to them based on their gender at birth, learning a character is no longer a Mistress but a Master. These moments were simply part of the story and not hurdles that had to be crossed. 

And of course our narrators. It's not usual that I enjoy the POV of all characters in a book with a rotating cast, but I really liked all of them (Tunuva and Dumai being my favorites though). 

I cannot wait to hopefully see more of the Roots of Chaos series!

Thank you to Bloomsbury and NetGalley for making this available in exchange for an honest review!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Death of parent, and Violence

Moderate: Pregnancy and Sexual content

Minor: Religious bigotry

3arth2kaye's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, and Death

Minor: Cursing, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Grief

aas's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Pregnancy, Child death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Suicide, Violence, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, and War

readingelli's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Blood, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual content

Forced pregnancy