Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross

31 reviews

alamayhem_reads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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

Rebecca Ross hit it out of the park again with this sequel! I absolutely loved this book, and she did an incredible job at continuing the story and elevating it even more. I loved being able to read more about Iris and Roman’s story, as well as getting to learn more about the war between the gods, and the character development of Dacre and Enva. 

I enjoyed the different perspectives we got in this book, as we got more insight into the world of Dacre and quite possibly what poor Forest had to go through when he went through a similar fate as Roman. I definitely hated Dacre so much hahaha, and at points I did find myself gravitating more towards Iris’ side of the story because I was just so sad that Roman was stuck in this terrible setting.

I did love the character development of the gods and getting to learn more about the history between Dacre and Enva.

It was kind of amazing to see how much power that Enva truly held over Dacre in the end.

I also loved that one chapter we got the POV of multiple side characters. That was a super interesting and enlightening part of the novel to include, and a different insight that we had never received before.

In the end, I thoroughly enjoyed my time reading Iris and Roman’s story, and I truly do not think there was much more Ross could have delivered in this duology. It had love, grief, enemies-to-lovers, tense moments, war, letters, magic, creatures, and so much more. This has definitely become one of my top duologies! I rate this book 5/5 stars! 🌟 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Death, and War

Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Violence

blacksphinx's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

On some level it's really funny that this book had a chance to re-do the worst thing about the first book,

the instant love between our protagonists

, and then chose to do the same exact thing again but even faster. There's also some groan-worthy exposition where it really doesn't make sense that the party in question would stop and willingly monologue. Lastly, this book engages in one of my least favorite tropes,

pair the spades - NO ONE can end this book without a lover!!!111 ugh

 

But... I love historical fantasy and what kept me enthralled in the first book was the up-close depictions of warfare. And there's plenty of warfare, spying, and tense action scenes in this sequel to keep me turning the pages. I'm now left hankering for another book series that blends non-magical warfare with a fantasy setting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Grief, Confinement, Vomit, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, and War

Moderate: Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Kidnapping, Blood, Torture, Medical trauma, and Car accident

Minor: Death of parent, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, and Alcoholism

auga's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Grief, Death, Gaslighting, War, Emotional abuse, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

jonghyun4life's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

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

2.0

Not what I expected. A total let down compared to the first installment. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Death, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Stalking, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Addiction

sariereads's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Gun violence, Torture, War, Death, Confinement, Genocide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Violence, Terminal illness, Murder, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual content

laneyreadz's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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: War and Death

Minor: Blood and Medical trauma

katelyn11's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

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

2.5

After Divine Rivals, this was a sore disappointment. Slow-moving with little to contribute to the plot or character development. I simply didn’t care about any part of the world or Iris and Roman’s romance. There were a couple of good chapters (chapter 35 did NOT live up to the hype) but it mostly felt like a slog. I finished it only to say I’ve finished it and to read the conclusion of Iris and Roman’s story. I was bored most of the time. The villain wasn’t compelling; the world wasn’t magical; the side characters were unconvincing fillers; there was far too much exposition rather than good storytelling. This is not Ross’ finest work. Also, the editing seemed rushed, as I found at least one spelling error and several punctuation/spacing errors within the narrative. Read The Queen Rising if you want to read Ross’ finer work. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Violence, and War

Moderate: Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Genocide, Kidnapping, and Abandonment

taniasborges's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Medical trauma, Death, War, Grief, Gore, Blood, and Medical content

thelongroadtosanity's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

"Keep writing. You will find the words you need to share. They are already within you, even in the shadows, hiding like jewels. —C."

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**
***
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What a great ending to a great duology. Even though this plot felt slightly slower than the first book, it still had plenty of action and intrigue to keep me turning the page. I love Roman and Iris together as a couple, since I feel that they really complement each other so well. The romance truly burns brightly in this book. 

I do love the setting and even though there wasn't much world building and exploration of the magic system, I thought it was so well done that it doesn't frankly bother me nearly as much as I thought it would. I love that this is a soft and subtle fantasy novel duology. The author does such an amazing job at keeping the slow-burn romance alive through distance and time. This is such a well-written series, I think I may have a slight book-hangover. (1/2024) 

4 out of 5 stars, I would definitely read and recommend

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Chronic illness, Violence, Gun violence, Grief, War, Medical trauma, and Medical content

meganfuhr's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious relaxing sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Going back into the world of Divine Rivals was fabulous!
With Roman forgetting everything we are thrown into a whole new ballgame of intrigue, getting to see what life is like from the view of Darce's Soldier's as opposed to the front lines for Enva.
I loved everything about this book, now, that being said, I did cry a lot during it, so be warned, being some tissues.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Medical content, Murder, Confinement, Gore, Body horror, Medical trauma, War, Gaslighting, Death, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Abandonment, Genocide, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Slavery, Stalking, and Vomit

Moderate: Abandonment, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Blood, Alcohol, Cursing, and Confinement