Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

War by Laura Thalassa

10 reviews

aahrobot's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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

4.5

I really enjoyed Pestilence, so I was quite excited to read War. This one was pretty decent; I’m still excited to read the last two in the series. I enjoyed the main characters pretty well, too. Overall, a good book. Personally, I am not super into fantasy, but I’m trying! And this series has been a great stepping stone for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Grief, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Violence, Death of parent, Rape, Xenophobia, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Sexual content, Vomit, and War

Moderate: Pregnancy

queerloras's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

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

3.5

Oh my god, I wanted to hate this book so much more than I did. Like, some of the writing was fucking hysterical ("only a woman with a vagina the size of a crater could fit War's cock", anyone?!), and boo to the reforming of the villain (way more attractive as the Horseman, rather than the man), but. I'm now going to read the rest of the series.

Also, the comparisons to Khal Drogo are so it. That's exactly what he's like.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Genocide, Blood, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Medical content, Death, Sexual violence, Animal death, Grief, Physical abuse, Rape, Deportation, Slavery, Cannibalism, Child death, Colonisation, Murder, Animal cruelty, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, War, Body horror, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, and Pregnancy

thejadylady's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Gun violence, Cursing, Body horror, Sexual content, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Death, Gore, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy

Minor: Vomit, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Death of parent

mattiedancer's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

3.75

Writing: 3.25⭐️/5 

Alright, so the writing is serviceable. I liked it in the sense that it didn’t get in the way. I did feel like the pacing was a bit off for this one. I noticed a lot more exposition starting to creep in. It felt a bit less polished. Overall, though, it stood out less than her first book in this series (Pestilence) strictly because it felt a bit like a carbon copy in certain sections.

Characters: 3.5⭐️/5

Above I said that the writing felt a bit too familiar. So did the characters. Now, War is completely different than Pestilence. Miriam feels a little too similar to Sara. As the novel picked up, she definitely struck out on her own, gaining her own sense of self. However, by then the similarities were embedded into my brain too much, and it became harder to notice their differences. I did appreciate getting a few more side characters in this one as well, even if some of them lacked a bit of depth.

Plot: 3.75⭐️/5 

The plot is fun – and, you guessed it, overall very similar to Pestilence. All in all, I did enjoy the differences, loving how Miriam pushed against her fate as War’s wife. I loved how he, in his differences from Pestilence, forced her to move in different directions. I will say the end felt a bit too pulled out. Everything felt so over, and for everyone to come back to kill War just felt a bit contrived, as though Thalassa was trying too hard to make the ending similar to Pestilence.

Who Should Read This Book? 

• Fans of ACOTAR and dystopian societies
• Someone looking for a romance with an intriguing plot
• Those who like fantasy/apocalyptic novels that centre on romance
• Readers who like (or don’t mind) a bit of spice, but not just spice
• Those who liked and loved the first book (but maybe take a break between so it’s not too fresh)

Content Warnings? 

Death, murder, murder, sexual content, physical abuse, emotional abuse, kidnapping, fire, fire injury, gore, blood, injury, injury detail, gun violence, violence, animal death, torture, grief, body horror, sexual harassment, sexual assault, war, 

Post-Reading Rating:  3⭐️/5

I didn’t love how the ending came about. Very contrived and pushed towards predictability, when it didn’t have to be.

Final Rating: 3.5⭐️/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual harassment, Violence, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Colonisation, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, War, Blood, Murder, Cursing, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Self harm, and Toxic friendship

emmathebookworm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

3.5

This was definitely better than the first book. However, I felt like something was missing. I would’ve liked to see more of War’s POV,  which could’ve really captured his moral struggles throughout the story. It’s a bit slow at times and the end was quite fast, but that doesn’t make the book much less enjoyable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Child death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Violence, War, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Torture, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Cursing, Vomit, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

kat1105's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Grief, Pregnancy, Child death, Death, Rape, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and War

bangiebangs's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-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

Really enjoyable, like the first one. That said, the journey to reach a destination of happily ever after is way different here than in Pestilence. This is brutal in a different way, and has some interesting turns. 

Slow burn enemies to lovers, and I deducted half a point only because I felt there were some chapters that could have been merged. I never got bored reading, but some stuff could have been edited better/ made more concise. 

Heed the CNs, this is not mincing words (or deeds). Spice is medium. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexism, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Grief, Suicide attempt, Violence, Body horror, Bullying, War, Gun violence, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Medical trauma, and Torture

Moderate: Alcohol, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Vomit, and Murder

blue_mountain_sky's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

rapgamenancyreagan's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny fast-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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Violence, and War

Moderate: Body horror, Grief, and Pregnancy

zabeishumanish's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring mysterious 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

4.25

I loved Miriam as a character. When I think of someone able to overcome the apocalypse, she’s the type to survive. 
There were some points of the story that felt incredibly familiar to the first of the series. And at first, I was concerned that the author couldn’t make substantially different storylines when the premise of both book (or the whole series) is the same. My fear was that two stories of Apocalypse Harbingers fallings for women desperate to stop them by any means, couldn’t possibly be unique and interesting. While there were similar elements to the stories, I am happy to say the fear was mostly unfounded. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Violence, and War

Moderate: Car accident, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence