Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Bone Shard Emperor by Andrea Stewart

11 reviews

alexalily's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Confinement, Gore, Violence, Grief, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and War

Minor: Kidnapping and Racism

alexijai98's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, War, Violence, Animal cruelty, Blood, Death, and Gore

jen_b's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Gore and Child abuse

kaziaroo's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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

4.25

There are still some things I don't understand (like how the construct army was able to travel between islands seemingly unimpeded by any kind of naval defense) and the pace dragged a little in the first half, but I still really enjoyed this and found it hard to put down in the last third. At first the romance felt a bit forced but it grew on me, and I enjoyed Phalue and Ranami's chapters more than I did in the first book.

The characters face a LOT of enemies in this book and it was hard to find hope or keep track of all the obstacles and adversaries buffeting them. Although there are the occasional moments of friendly banter, this is not a light-hearted read. The characters' situations and motivations were interesting though, even if I didn't always relate to or agree with them. I'm looking forward to reading the sequel and seeing how things wrap up.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Violence, War, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Genocide, and Grief

Moderate: Cursing, Gore, Toxic friendship, and Confinement

Minor: Physical abuse

lizgriffinwords's review

adventurous challenging 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? It's complicated

5.0

This kind of adult fantasy book feels like it was curated exactly for me. Incredible worldbuilding, moving interpersonal dynamics, political intrigue, little-to-no spice, and courage to confront grey areas of morality. Cannot wait for book 3!!

CW: death, gore/blood, war

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, and Blood

Moderate: War

Minor: Child death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

gayghostprince's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Gore, War, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Body horror

Minor: Infertility, Animal cruelty, and Sexual harassment

internationalreads's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Abandonment, Blood, Classism, War, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence

mazomazli's review

adventurous mysterious 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual harassment

a major character briefly mentions a few times about how she was sexually harassed by a man who took her in as an apprentice. No actual scenes of it.

lucystolethesky's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, War, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, and Gore

Minor: Grief

aardwyrm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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? Yes

4.0

Everything I loved about the first book is here, and when the narrative flow gets going, it's every bit as good. There are a few quibbles on the storytelling level. The whole thrust and theme is bound up in protecting your people, but whole swaths of innocents get cut down in nameless silence all the time with little reaction. (Hard to avoid on an epic scale, but egregious.) It makes the often petty behavior of even the most interesting characters and ruthless antagonists feel a little like super powered teenagers playing action figures with people. But the world is still fascinating, and that really is terribly common in the genre.

I had trouble pinning down why I liked the book less than the first one. There's a forced, chemistry-free romance that doesn't suit either character. There's some real book-two-of-a-trilogy bloat, and a lot of the 500+ pages feel like wheel spinning. There's less about the more interesting POV characters from the first book and the secondary weirdos who have a lot of potential.

I finally realized that this just comes down to having way too much Jovis. He's always been the most boring man in the world, to be tolerated only because Mephi is there, and everything he does is dumb and wrong. Cut him and the pacing and plotting and trope use would tidy right up. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Sexual harassment, Violence, and War