Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Oleander Sword by Tasha Suri

20 reviews

alphabetmafiamember's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-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: Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Moderate: Sexism, Death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Cursing, Sexual content, and Grief

Minor: Animal death, Alcohol, Suicide, Alcoholism, Torture, and Religious bigotry

angstifies's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.5

this was such a fantastic sequel, one minor issue i had with book 1 was that i did not care for some of the narrators (Ashok, Vikram…) and their part of the story, but in this book that was not the case at all. 

i found the stories even better than the previous book and i adore how much more focus there was on both the magical side of this world and on Malini and Bhumika’s political schemes. 
loved it, can’t wait for the last book!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Violence, War, and Death

Moderate: Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Body horror, Cursing, Grief, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content

Minor: Suicide and Torture

cameronreads's review against another edition

5.0

This book was just as incredible as the first one without a drop of middle book syndrome in sight. Everything felt so complex and realistic in a way that had me completely sucked in. All of the characters were so intricate and flawed in such an interesting variety of ways and this was reflected in the complex relationships between them. The way the world building and especially the religions were expanded on were so interesting - I loved reading about the various beliefs and the sub-sects of them as well as how they interlinked. I once again loved that we got to see from such a wide variety of perspectives and thought it was done masterfully. I can’t believe I’m going to have to wait so long for the third book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Death, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, War, Animal death, Grief, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

Minor: Lesbophobia and Colonisation

lycanhood's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, War, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder

Moderate: Grief, Gore, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Body horror

Minor: Kidnapping and Suicide

holyschmitz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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

4.75

 In this thrilling sequel to The Jasmine Throne, three main characters must reckon with the high cost of power. Dark secrets wait at the root of a strange and powerful magic; brutal war and waning faith surround the figure of a prophesied rule; new threats arise to challenge a newly freed country. With mysteries that draw readers further into the story and twists that keep them on their toes, The Oleander Sword takes the series in exciting directions. I'm rooting so hard for Priya, Malini, and Bhumika, even as their motives differ and their paths diverge, and I'm so exciting to see where Tasha Suri takes them next.  

Themes: the impact of imperialism and war, religion, challenging misogyny and xenophobia within the context of the world, the cost of power and secrets, sapphic romance, complicated characters

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Blood, Classism, Colonisation, Violence, War, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

Moderate: Blood, Chronic illness, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Alcohol, Body horror, Addiction, Racism, Misogyny, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Medical content, Gore, Terminal illness, Violence, and War

Minor: Classism, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Animal death, Suicide, Self harm, and Homophobia

grimdark_dad's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Sexual content, War, Violence, Blood, Death, and Alcohol

ezwolf's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

I know I'm a day late but here is my review!

I absolutely loved The Jasmine Throne and was so excited to read The Oleander Sword. Both Malini and Priya are such interesting characters and the supporting cast also adds so much to the story. I'm not usually a fan of alternating POV books, but I personally really love Bhumika and Rao and so getting to read their POV was fun! 

The way that women play a part in the book and series as a whole is amazing. The way that there's an entire religion based on women sacrificing themselves willingly, but also the same people who worship that religion looking down on the real women in their lives. The way that Malini created an entire entourage of women of guards and maids and even though her army was made up of men, the most important people to her are women and the same of Priya as well. 

Tasha Suri has an incredible way with words and specially in this book there were a lot of lines and passages that stood out to me. In particular the scene where Malini reminisces about how she would make Priya her wife if she could, what it means to be a sacrifice/give a sacrifice without knowing the price, and finally when Rao is thinking back on Aditya's words "What is a star, but a distant fire, reaching for you across worlds?" 

I did not see the way the story was going to take the turn for at all and the build up at the end was fantastic and I now eagerly await the third installment of The Burning Kingdoms series!

Thank you to NetGalley for making this available in exchange for an honest review! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, War, Grief, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Classism, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Sexual content

Minor: Alcohol, Pregnancy, Torture, and Vomit

qace90's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

I received an advance copy from the publisher via Netgalley for review purposes; this in no way influences my review.

Oleander Sword is even better than Jasmine Throne and has me utterly adrift in feelings. Full review closer to release, but trust me - you need this book in your life!!

Full review:

I finished Oleander Sword and now I don’t know what to do with myself. How dare it end there?! Where’s the next book?! I need to know what’s going to happen next!!

Oleander Sword picks up a year after the events of Jasmine Throne. Bhumika and Priya are Elders of Ahiranya and trying to lead their country into a prosperous future, but are having to deal with the politics of the highborn and also trying to stop the spread of the rot, if they can’t reverse it’s effects. Malini is empress but she’s still having to fight to hold that title, especially as her brother Chandra has found a weapon that makes people question the veracity of the prophecies claiming she is the true and rightful leader of Parijatdvipa. Her claims to the throne are also hindered by men who would rather see her brother Aditya as emperor, as he is the eldest and was once the crown prince, but he has no interest in ruling; he sees his place as a priest for the nameless.

This book had me immediately in my feelings and needing someone to scream with because the way Tasha Suri executes emotional complexity alongside political machinations and ripple effect manipulations is nothing short of masterful. The prose is absolutely gorgeous, but for me this book is all about the emotions. Everyone is trying to do what they believe to be the right thing and so many are working towards their goals for love - of someone, of country, of faith. I love the complexity of these characters and how hard it sometimes is to sus out who is in the right and who is in the wrong - especially as so many of these characters are doing bad or harmful things for the right reasons.

Oleander Sword is absolutely gorgeous on so many levels and really delves into complexities of motivations and goals while also giving space for softness and love. But even the soft, loving elements have thorns and hurt. Priya, Malini, Bhumika, and all the other characters are trying their best in a world and time when sometimes the best you can do is offer your enemy a quick death. But who is the true enemy when ancient powers are coming back into the world?

I just, I am utterly in awe of the writing and the story Tasha Suri is telling with this series and cannot wait for the third book’s release. If you’re a fan of epic fantasy with complicated motivations, nuanced interpersonal dynamics, and messy, messy feelings you absolutely need to read this book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, and War

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Animal death, Suicide, and Torture

- Grief - Immolation - Battle - Drowning - Threats toward a child’s safety - Alcohol consumption - Sensual/sexual content - Reference to torture (off page) - Poison

laurareads87's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

This is what I want in epic fantasy: a compelling setting, political intrigue, amazing world-building, meaningful diverse representation, and a plot I’m consistently excited about.  It’s also what I want in a middle book of a trilogy: self-contained enough to not feel like it ended too abruptly while still leaving me on the edge of my seat for the third book.  The ending — I won’t say much about it but suffice to say that I’m waiting extraordinarily impatiently for book three and am a little bit stressed about it!  The multiple perspectives — and there are a *lot* of them — feel distinctive and are used to great effect in developing the characters and their motivations, and the religious and magical elements that were intriguing in the first book are further elaborated here beautifully.  One of the absolute best fantasy series happening right now — highly, highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for providing an ARC in exchange for this review.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Blood, Death, Murder, and Gore

Moderate: Xenophobia, Sexism, Misogyny, Grief, Suicide, and Torture

Minor: Animal death

ktkeps'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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Xenophobia, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and War