Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Oleander Sword by Tasha Suri

17 reviews

laurenw's review against another edition

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Murder, Religious bigotry, Grief, War, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, and Death

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, and Animal death

Minor: Vomit, Torture, Xenophobia, and Sexual content

sophie42's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, War, Fire/Fire injury, Death, and Misogyny

Moderate: Body horror, Blood, Alcohol, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Suicide, Torture, Grief, and Sexual content

leaflit's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

I liked this one better than the first one. I wasn’t sure I was going to keep going with the series after the first book but I’m glad I did and looking forward to the third.  Lots going on, faster pace and getting deeper into the lore. Ends with a lot of plot lines set up for an exciting sequel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Vomit, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Death, Murder, War, Religious bigotry, Genocide, Violence, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexism

Moderate: Sexual content, Animal death, Kidnapping, Torture, Drug use, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Gore, Terminal illness, Child abuse, Confinement, Blood, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Domestic abuse

scrubsandbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

No Second Book Syndrome detected here! While the first book seemed to introduce us to the magic and the associated extensive world-building, this one seemed to focus more on the politics. Not only that but this one is more or less Malini's story while the first was Priya's. And these ladies absolutely gutted me. It was an incredible follow-up to The Jasmine Throne, and ends in a devastating cliffhanger.

Much like the first book, there were a number of different POVs but the quantity of different people were scaled down in comparison to the first. As a matter of fact, I think going back and rereading the first might make more sense now after reading this one and knowing who are or were the key players, either those who make it into this book or died in book one. I'm completely invested in seeing this through to the end.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Suicide and Child death

Minor: Confinement and Alcohol

jessiereads98's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense 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

4.0

I think partially I just wasn’t in the right headspace to read this book as I normally would. It took me longer to get through than books usually do. 

Overall, I enjoyed this. It’s a complex story with complex characters. I really enjoy the unique magic system with multiple gods coming into play and in conflict with each other. I also appreciate the feminist themes woven beautifully into the story. 

I did find the pacing in the first half of the book to be a bit slow and like it took a little long to get to things. It felt at times like the story was meandering and dragging its feet on getting where it was going. The pacing did pick up for a much more satisfying final half-third of the book.

I don’t fully enjoy Priya and Malini’s relationship. The power imbalance and Malini’s constant use of Priya and expecting Priya to always do what is best for her makes me somewhat uncomfortable. While I enjoy the relationship as one that is toxic and compelling and narratively interesting, I am not sure if that is the author’s intention or if I as a reader am meant to simply root for them as star crossed lovers. I understand the idea is for there to be a lot of moral greyness and none of these characters are perfect, nor would I want them to be. However, there are times where I find Malini’s treatment of Priya going past moral greyness to this is just an imbalanced power dynamic of a woman from a lower class being expected to serve one of a higher class and I don’t find it romantic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, War, Blood, Gore, Murder, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Sexism, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, and Grief

Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Classism, Colonisation, Drug use, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Suicide, Death of parent, Homophobia, Sexual content, Torture, Abandonment, Child death, Cursing, and Kidnapping

karcitis'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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, War, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Murder, Death, Grief, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Violence

Moderate: Xenophobia, Alcohol, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, and Colonisation

Minor: Classism and Torture

reading_mermaid's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Alcohol

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

bluberrybooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Misogyny, and War

Moderate: Alcohol, Violence, and Xenophobia

Minor: Sexual content and Torture

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