Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

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

7 reviews

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

estheralmeida55's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Cannibalism, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Kidnapping and Pedophilia

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

eriniven's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Mental illness, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

unqualified_mc's review against another edition

dark reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Number 3 felt like a german childrens story.

Thought the last one would be about lesbian-soulmates finally accepting themselves without the need of others. We took a sharp turn to the left and got a Ursula-origin story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism and Child abuse

Moderate: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Murder

Minor: Abandonment, Animal death, Bullying, and Kidnapping

Story 1 and 2 are the more lighthearted ones. 3 involves the most brutal and potentially triggering elements and it's mostly shocking because after the previous ones it was unexpected. 4 only has a few things that involve content warnings but much less in detail. Number 5 isn't exactly a really dark telling but still not something I'd call lighthearted.

jbabbm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

I truly recommend this book if you want a peak of the Grishaverse before committing to read any of the books. These stories are great and pretty entertaining. Leigh Bardugo did a great job with these retellings of classical tales from our world.

This is also a great book to read if you have previously read the Grishaverse and feel nostalgic but aren't ready to dive back in just yet.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Violence

Minor: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship