Reviews tagging 'Death'

Paladin's Hope by T. Kingfisher

31 reviews

neighbor_reads's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

I'm struggling to find words to convey how much I love this series - the characters are so endearing and the story has touched my heart.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical content, and Sexual content

Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Violence

purplepenning's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.75

My favorite of this series so far — and they've all been great! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood

Moderate: Gaslighting, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Grief, Police brutality, Violence, Classism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Death, Murder, and Sexual content

Minor: Excrement

readinggem's review

adventurous medium-paced

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

4.0

A romance much like the previous two in this series. A lot of space is given to how unworthy the paladin is for love. But it’s still a fun premise. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Medical content, Murder, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

cwerber's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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

5.0

WHAT. 

HOW DARE YOU END THE BOOK LIKE THAT?!?!?! 

IS PIPER OKAY?!?!?!? 

IT'S TWO IN THE MORNING AND NOW I CAN'T GO TO SLEEP THANKS TO YOU AND THIS BOOK.

TEN STARS OUT OF FIVE.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Hate crime, Blood, Xenophobia, Violence, Grief, Confinement, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

leahrosereads's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful lighthearted 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

Ugh this series was so delightful, and I loved how it wrapped up! Just chef's kiss!

The characters were truly the highlight of every book, and Piper, Galen, and Earstripe were no exception.  Okay, I'm gonna be so honest right now - any time a gnole was on the page, they stole the show. I loved every single one, and I'd love to see a story from their perspective one day! Brindle and Earstripe story when?!? Give them their oxen!

Okay I'm done.  Read this series!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, and Confinement

no_mourners_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Violence, Police brutality, Sexual content, Animal death, Medical content, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Alcoholism, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Child death, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Cursing, War, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Drug use, Excrement, and Torture

maryellen's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Medical content, Sexual content, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Death, and Gore

Moderate: Animal death and Grief

bruisedtigers's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

I picked this book up out of order, so I don't know how it compares to the rest of the series. However, it's fun! It's simple, funny, and cute. Piper's powers are compelling and I love a berserker, plus more gnoles! Selfishly, this is just a relationship dynamic that I really enjoy. This is an easy read and it's comforting.

I've noticed now that I've read a few Kingfisher books, that she does sometimes cut into her emotional (or scary, in the horror novels) moments by having a character do quips. Sometimes, it's funny, but other times it's distracting. I'm surprised she doesn't just lean into the emotional moments. The rest of the book seems earnest about being a little romance story, so I wish pivotal confessions weren't spliced up with someone joshing the pair. Let the

marriage proposal

be cheesy and sweet without a third wheel poking fun!

Also, yeah, the last line is good. I saw reviews talking it up and it still took me off guard.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Minor: Child death

marsh_mall0w's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Confinement, Violence, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Sexual content

Minor: Child abuse and Child death

booksthatburn's review

adventurous tense 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

PALADIN'S HOPE features Galen, one of the paladins of the (now dead) Saint of Steel. He appears in the first two books in the series but now gets a story of his own. The main story is entirely new, as Earstripe the guard-gnole requests that Galen and the lich-doctor, Piper, help him find out the cause of several mysterious and violent deaths (which are both introduced and resolved). Very late in the book I figured out that this wraps up some things left hanging from other White Rat books, not just the first two Saint of Steel books (though it does that as well). The epilogue, in particular, exists to show the state of Galen and Piper's relationship some time after the main story, and to continue the underlying thread of the death of the Saint of Steel. It leaves the book on a bit of a cliffhanger, but one related to the general course of the series and not to the central plot of the book. 

Galen and Piper are both new narrators, though Galen is consistent with his previous appearances as a secondary character. The main story would make sense for someone who started here without reading the rest of the series or any other White Rat books, but the epilogue in particular will make much more sense for someone who has read the first two books. There's a pretty cool character detail to delight anyone who read THE WONDER ENGINE, and the return of a couple of characters who first appeared in SWORDHEART, but these connections aren't necessary for understanding most of the book. It is the strongest entry in the ongoing thread of greater understanding between gnoles and humans, or at least between some specific gnoles and a few humans. Until now it seems like gnoles have been doing most of the understanding, so it's nice to see things start to shift. 

The worldbuilding focuses on gnole/human interactions and the details of the place where they find themselves. It's a character-focused story, but the setting is specific and growing more detailed with each new entry in the White Rat books.

Galen is a brooding paladin, but a very different flavor of one from either Stephen or Istvhan. He has nightmares which can trigger the battle-tide if he's touched in his sleep. The warning that Galen should not be touched in his slumber has been consistent in the series so far, and now we get his side of that burden. Piper works with the dead, a profession which most people find distasteful. The pace of their relationship has an entirely different flavor from the first two books. It takes place over a fairly short period of time, with the main action confined to a day or two. The restricted but fascinating setting acts as a crucible where Galen, Piper, and Earstripe spend a lot of time together under very stressful circumstances. They don't have quite as much trouble figuring out whether that the other person is interested (at least not for long), but are trying to figure out whether this is a fling or if it can be something more long-term once they're not in mortal danger.

I enjoyed the different pace of this one and am excited for more entries in the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Blood, Gore, Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racism, Murder, Child death, and Alcohol

Minor: Slavery, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, Ableism, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, and Pregnancy