Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Kingdom of Sweets by Erika Johansen

7 reviews

melissa_l_mcabee's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.75

When you hear that a book is a dark retelling of The Nutcracker your mind still does not expect a pit of corpses to appear in the story. This is absolutely a dark retelling, and was much darker than I imagined but it was enthralling. I did have to take breaks during my read through just to clear my mind of some of the imagery.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Death, Murder, Violence, Blood, Classism, Gore, and Torture

lateromantic's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

2.0

 

This was an interesting metaphor, but badly executed: the setting was shoehorned in (and, as a romanticist, I do not appreciate the Hoffmann or Dumas erasure), the characters and their actions boring, the references to the real world jarring and eye-rolling. Every time I started to get into it something would bounce me out of it. I wasn't a fan of the prose, I found the turn of phrase clunky, and the structure was strange - was it going for thriller? Why did it run on so long? Also, it was 'edgy', which I find incredibly boring. 

 

Not without merit, just not my kind of thing - perhaps if you want more 'dark faerie' content after reading ACOTAR, or want a book that has vibes of the first Wonder Woman film, you'll like it, but I found both of those put together by a better craftsperson than this. 

 

(Sorry, I don't like to write mean reviews, but I have nothing nice to say about this beyond 'nice idea' and that I will inevitably read another Nutcracker book next Christmas.)

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Miscarriage, Classism, Confinement, Abortion, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Torture, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Homophobia, Drug abuse, Sexism, and Toxic friendship

sleightofdance's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-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

4.0

A quick and easy read despite being dark, mysterious, and challenging. All-around intriguing. Would read again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Torture and Blood

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Murder, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Mental illness, Dysphoria, Grief, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Body shaming, Classism, and Torture

chasingpages1's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Child death, Classism, Confinement, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Infidelity, Stalking, Alcohol, Body horror, Kidnapping, Torture, Bullying, and Grief

Minor: Addiction, Sexual content, Violence, Abandonment, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Incest, War, Infertility, Gaslighting, and Pregnancy

jcrawford31's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child death, and Murder

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Body shaming, and Torture

Minor: War and Miscarriage

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

An intriguing and compelling story built from the world of The Nutcracker yet vastly different from the story told in that ballet. This wasn’t what I expected but I still found myself enjoying parts of the story. My biggest issue with the story is the writing style made it less accessible than other books I tend to read. It read like a classic novel and I had to look up several words in order to understand certain passages. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture, Toxic friendship, War, Toxic relationship, Murder, Classism, Confinement, Infertility, Miscarriage, Stalking, Child death, Grief, Addiction, Abandonment, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Infidelity, Violence, Blood, Child abuse, Gaslighting, and Sexism