Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

L'impero del vampiro by Jay Kristoff

30 reviews

fivexfiveb's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

shadeyc's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad 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

3.5

Not quite what I expected, but also a lot of what I expected...I know, that makes no sense. 
I enjoyed it mostly. There is always that moment when I read Kristoff books (actually not just Kristoff books, there are a couple that do it) where I sigh and roll my eyes and think 'here we go again, some more torture for your MC that doesn't actually give much to the story'. It's not bad, it's just a little tiring. Sometimes I think his books could be much shorter and properly breathtaking all the way to the end. 
Anyway. I like Gabe. He's a bastard as intended. But he's also a dumbarse, but I guess that's the point. 
I LOVE the illustrations, that was a cool touch. I have a special spot in my heart for Baptiste. And all the good good dogs, and good good horses, and good good giant kitties.

(But can we PLEASE stop fucking killing them off?!?! We all know I cannot handle that shit)

. And Ash, ah Ash, you're the best of them all. 
In general the story is pretty solid, and the format it unfolds in works really well to keep intrigue going (aside from that aforementioned horrid momentum dragging bit). 
Oh also, I hate it when a reveal or reveals happen and you see them coming for miles, I cannot be the only one who saw all that foreshadowing, it was pretty heavy handed, there was A LOT. 
Maybe I'm just tired and cynical, and want to get all my jolly's faster than I can read these bricks. 
Will be interesting to see what actually gets put into the next book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Death, Gore, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying and Homophobia

Minor: Child death and Death of parent

kylahspages's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

cakeylu's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, and Child death

heather34's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying, Gore, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Pregnancy

rabidpookie's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Death of parent

no1willnot's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, and Religious bigotry

It’s a book about vampire wars that centres around a religious order of vampire hunters based heavily in Christianity, so there is a LOT of blood, violence and institutional abuse

sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Homophobia, Sexism, and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual violence

sageleafpark's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and War

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, and Death

applejacksbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

 
I received a copy in exchange for an honest review from Netgalley.

From start to finish I was captured by the storytelling. I loved the prose and how it's a story within a story. I can see the inspiration from Name of the Wind and Interview with a Vampire and The Da Vinci Code, but this somehow takes all three and makes them better.

Pros: I loved all of the creative new ways to insult someone. The jumping from the past being told and back to the present was really well done as the character that's "interviewing" our main guy asks him to explain things that the reader might not have understood otherwise.

Cons: I don't really have a ton at the moment. The flipping between French and Scots when the characters speak was a little rough to get through in some places.

Overall, though I love the story and I really cannot wait to get both copies of it that I ordered 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Blood, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, and War