Reviews tagging 'War'

The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic by Leigh Bardugo

9 reviews

albyalbyalby's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

 Leigh Bardugo never disappoints with the Grishaverse, and the delightful and subversive takes on classic fairytales she gives in this book are underrated by her fans. The stunning descriptions give wonderful visuals that any reader will enjoy. Not to mention the beautiful illustrations throughout. Overall, highly recommend! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Murder, Cannibalism, Violence, Death, Body horror, and Gore

Moderate: Sexual assault, Confinement, Child abuse, Incest, Child death, Blood, and Animal death

Minor: Pedophilia, War, Toxic relationship, Bullying, and Xenophobia

tropico98's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

One of my favourite 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Bullying, War, Animal death, Murder, Animal cruelty, Violence, Body shaming, Torture, and Emotional abuse

rory18's review against another edition

challenging dark inspiring mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

A masterfully crafted collection of dark yet inspiring cautionary tales. There's no unreality trigger warning, but if there was one it would certainly apply for The Soldier Prince (heavy themes of grooming in that one, too.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Xenophobia, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Kidnapping, Drug abuse, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Child death, Alcohol, Homophobia, and War

icy_queen's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Death, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

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

Minor: Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, War, Bullying, Classism, Adult/minor relationship, Cannibalism, and Child death

magdie's review against another edition

dark emotional lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

THE ILLUSTRATIONS PROGRESS ALONGSIDE THE STORY!!!! But in all honesty, I just loved it! I practically inhaled it in one afternoon after struggling to get through few pages of 3 different books the previous weeks. The genre just hit right ig. It's very whimsical but dark (it can get REALLY dark) and you can easily see the inspiration in popular fairytales, but it's not a retelling per se. They felt just right, enough fairytaleness, poetics and morals yet quite realistic characters. I also loved the tidbit easter eggs and references to other grishaverse books.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Classism, Bullying, and Abandonment

Minor: Incest, War, Trafficking, Miscarriage, and Pedophilia

oceanic_rabbit's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional relaxing sad fast-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

5.0

This is a vivid, creative compilation of short stories fashioned to be like those we would read as children. Some of the influences of classics are present and visble but this makes the new twists and turns of these adaptations into their own entirely original ideas.

It is beautiful in an almost haunting way, and illustrated clearly and cleverly with often monotone palates with occasional contrasts.

Definitely a book I will revisit for a quick read, or just to look at the pictures. Very happy to have this in my collection.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder and War

anielabooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

5.0

This book was absolutely beautiful. The cover and illustrations were gorgeous. The stories were captivating and reminiscent of classic fairy tales. I particularly loved “Ayama and the Thorn Wood” and “When Water Sang Fire.” The lessons taught in these books are very relevant and important for kids to learn but please read the content warnings before introducing them because some stories have dark scenes. I thoroughly enjoyed the way it connected to the world of the Grisha, as the S&B books slyly mention some of the folk tales outlined in the book. Overall amazing read and I recommend even those who haven’t read other books from the Grishaverse to explore this one.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Cannibalism, Death, Kidnapping, Murder, Self harm, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment

Minor: Incest, Infertility, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, and War

emily_mh's review against another edition

dark mysterious relaxing fast-paced

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

4.5

Leigh Bardugo knows how to write fairy tales SO WELL. This was creepy and atmospheric and often tragic. It was the perfect autumn read (even though it's spring where I live). My favourite story was probably the Witch of Duva. Docked a half star because I thought the first and last stories dragged a little. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, Incest, Pedophilia, Murder, Death, Violence, Self harm, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Domestic abuse, Child death, Medical content, Blood, and Cannibalism

Minor: Pregnancy, War, Alcohol, Ableism, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Vomit, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Torture, Drug use, and Suicidal thoughts

puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cannibalism, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Murder, Sexual assault, Violence, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: War