Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Kingdom of Sweets by Erika Johansen

17 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

thebelovedreadingnook's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Violence

Moderate: Miscarriage and Toxic relationship

sburchart's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

This really isn't a retelling - more like the inclusion of a few Nutcracker elements towards the beginning that take a backseat to a story about characters nobody wants to root for and that never quite figures out what it wants to be. Horror story with a poorly explained magic system? A story about twin sisters reconciling? Russian historical fiction? Not sure what the marketing department was doing trying to spin this as a fantasy Christmas read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Death

Moderate: Abortion, Miscarriage, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Alcoholism

whitneyfoster's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Violence, Blood, and Death

sassacass11's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

This piece had me reeling! I devoured every word. Some instances are not explained, so it made me think about possibilities, but i always enjoy a book that includes me and my thoughts. 
The woes, darkness & betrayal were prominent; but lightened with hope, forgiveness, and the courage to accept ourselves, and life, in all their forms.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Violence

Moderate: Addiction

Minor: Incest and Mental illness

lauren_shilling's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

2.25

I want to start off by saying that this book is beautifully written. The writing is absolutely gorgeous, and very very immersive. However, that was really the only thing I really enjoyed about it. I felt like the plot was kind of all over the place. If the plot had only been the first half of the book, I would have probably given this 3.25 stars, but everything that came after the halfway mark bored me to tears. I also really couldn't stand the main character. She was very thoroughly an "I'm not like other girls' character, and in a way that put down other women, particularly Clara, who enjoyed things like collecting dolls and who cared and enjoyed caring about her appearance. Natasha, the main character, kind of made it seem like these were bad things and her lack of interest in them made her better than Clara, which bothered me. By the end of the book, this is supposed to have been changed and show that Natasha has changed as a person, but it felt almost lazily done, and it wasn't good enough for me. The reason I kept reading was because, as I said, the writing was gorgeous, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Pregnancy, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Minor: War and Incest

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

kelseyr713's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.0

I had high expectations for this because I love what I’ve read by the author before, but it gets repetitive and many questions aren’t ever answered. Great atmosphere though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Child death, Alcoholism, Violence, Misogyny, Body horror, Alcohol, Classism, Drug use, and Child abuse

Moderate: Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Stalking

Minor: War, Infertility, Miscarriage, and Sexual content

latelygrace's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Body horror, and Violence

Moderate: War

maregred's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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? N/A

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Infidelity

Moderate: Mental illness, Body shaming, Confinement, Violence, Classism, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Misogyny, Gaslighting, Drug abuse, Blood, War, Pregnancy, and Death