Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Seasparrow by Kristin Cashore

36 reviews

sonshinelibrarian's review against another edition

5.0

Wow. This was just as good and just as rough as Bitterblue. Cashore continues to deal with the trauma and PTSD and emotional baggage and damage caused by King Leck, this time with Hava. In a lot of ways Hava seems younger than her 20 (21?) years, but it's so clear the ways her growth has been hindered by everything she's gone through. And Cashore lets her grow without glossing over anything. Hava literally has to relearn how to think about herself and about others, to find a way to move forward while realizing and acknowledging that the past will always affect her in some ways. I pretty much cried straight through the last third of this book. I'm ready to cry just writing this review.

Trigger warnings abound for this book, but Cashore handles everything with a sense of hope that keeps it from getting too dark. This book destroyed me in the best possible way and, like with Bitterblue, I'll be thinking about it for years to come.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Animal cruelty, and Grief

Moderate: Rape, Murder, Abandonment, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Child abuse and Pedophilia

kristinrdub's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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

A wonderful new addition to the Graceling Realm! Cashore’s characters are achingly human and their traumas and triumphs are written so beautifully. I love the ever-expanding world of Gracelings and I can’t wait for more!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Medical trauma

bookabooroo's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Yet another great Graceling sequel! Loved getting to know Hava and watching her get to know herself better. A refreshing change of scenery in this story!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty

Moderate: Animal death and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual assault

kllyholt's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

3.5

I still think that Graceling and Fire are two of Cashore's best works, and I haven't felt that from these recent installments in the Graceling universe. Don't get me wrong, I love this world and I think it's fascinating. We get back to some of the politics towards the end of this book, which is when I think Cashore is at her strongest. Political intrigue, great characters. That's the magic for her.

Hava, the main character in this one, isn't the most likeable at the beginning, but her journey is one of reckoning with the abuse and neglect she faced as a child. Throughout, she's able to work through that, to allow herself to trust once again. It's a character arc that really works, and the addition of the foxes does wonders. The foxes were honestly my favorite part of this book!

However, I would love if Cashore focused on a different aspect of this world if she wants to keep writing Graceling books. Show me a different set of characters, with maybe a mention of those we already know. It would help build the world even more, and the world is one of the best parts of this series.

All in all, I enjoyed this, but not as much as the early Cashore books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Grief

Moderate: Death of parent, Child abuse, and Sexual assault

Minor: Homophobia, Child death, and Rape

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Grief, and Violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Drug use, Murder, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, Pregnancy, Death, Medical content, Confinement, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Addiction, Pedophilia, Child death, Rape, Torture, War, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Excrement, Sexism, Homophobia, and Vomit

Needles, nonconsensual drugging. Near-drowning, distress at sea. Urination. Frostbite, amputation.

sarahbliss's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

waqupi's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Pedophilia and Homophobia

atthelibrarywithmegan's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-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

I just finished Seasparrow and I’m hoping it’s not the last in the series; although it did just come out in November. This was a 4 ⭐️read for me. There were parts that were slow; but they were on a ship, what do you expect? I feel like Hava’s character had some really great autistic representation that isn’t normally in pop culture. (Iykyk) Whether that was intentional or not, I really loved it. I can’t wait to do a reread of all 5 books in the Graceling series at some point. They’ll always hold a special place in my heart.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death of parent, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, and Sexual assault

aseel_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

3.75

If this book was 100-200 pages shorter, it would have been fantastic. I liked the actual plot events and hava's character arc but because the book was so long and so slow, I started getting annoyed with hava and her behaviours. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Grief, Rape, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, and Blood