Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

La guaritrice di Zalindov by Lynette Noni

256 reviews

lidiae's review against another edition

adventurous 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

My main issue with this book is just pacing, it was so slow at times and it feels like we’re learning nothing only for it to all be revealed at the end in a rush. I also felt like every character was flat and not very well developed. I’m not sure I’ll pick up the rest of the series

but the reveal at the end may have changed my mind uggh

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Violence

Minor: Self harm

raichou'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? It's complicated

3.5

Ich habe mir das Buch vor allem gekauft, weil ich das Cover so schön fand, ohne wirklich zu wissen im was es geht. 

Alles in allem eine gelungene Geschichte, ich glaube ich bin nur schon etwas zu alt für die eigentliche Zielgruppe. Trotzdem war es eine interessante Story, der Twist am Ende kam für mich unerwartet. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Self harm

jessieslibrary's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

delandjessica's review against another edition

mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

I both loved and didn't love this book. I loved the idea of having this character, Kiva, be the healer in this horrible prison and the focus on her doing her best to take care of the other prisoners. I especially liked the detective element as she's trying to figure out where a mystery illness is coming from. But I didn't feel like the main element of the plot, the Trial by Ordeal, was really even necessary. Not once did Kiva manage to accomplish anything in the trials on her own, being saved by others every single time,  and it honestly just felt super gimmicky anyway, used as a flashy lure in the book blurb to get readers to pick up the book. It makes no sense that a prison would go through the effort of putting on such a pointless and time wasting performance just to kill a  prisoner, since that's the whole point of the trials is for the person to die spectacularly, especially when there's already the Abyss where problematic prisoners are sent to but never return from. It all just smelled like plot convenience to me and could have easily been written out of the book, which would have made both the plot and Kiva's character stronger.

I also had a huge problem with Jaren. He starts hitting on Kiva from the moment he sees her, continues to pursue her romantically and touches her constantly despite her repeatedly telling him to stop, and he has no real personality other than being attractive and good. I'm not sure how that's supposed to be interpreted as being romantic. I also struggled with Tipp. His character was sweet, but though I appreciate that the author wanted to introduce more character diversity, Tipp's extreme stutter really slows down the reading experience. The author could have reduced the stutter by at least two thirds per dialogue exchange and it would have conveyed the same idea without making it so difficult to get through. The stutter also didn't add anything to Tipp's character that wasn't already there, so I would have liked to see the author either give a purpose for the stutter or remove it entirely.

However, despite all the overexplanation and insufficient description and Kiva's wishy-washy grasp of who she herself even is (she's always saying that she never or always does things and has for the last ten years, but then turns around and is doing or not doing them anyway), I absolutely loved the whole ending and the twist at the very end. It was unexpected but suddenly made the entire book make so much more sense in hindsight. Twist endings are so difficult to pull off, but this one was handled perfectly and I'm eager to see what happens with Kiva next.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Chronic illness, Physical abuse, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, and Sexual harassment

Romance is present, but doesn't get physical.

bluebreex's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

3.0

I did enjoy this book, but I do think it was way too over hyped for me. I enjoyed the main cast and the trials throughout, but there were some themes I could do without. Please check trigger warnings before picking up this book so you're not caught off guard. 

I wasn't sold on continuing this series until the last few chapters

and that's on plot twists!! Did not see any of that coming! Very intrigued to see what storm Kiva is going to kick up in the palace

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Drug abuse, Torture, and Medical content

Moderate: Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Police brutality, and Medical content

sissix_'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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm

r1vana's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

What is that ending!! I am speechless. I got goosebumps. For all the books I’ve read, that cliffhanger was probably one of the top ten unexpected plot twist!!

she is the princess and the daughter of the rebel Tilda!!!

More RTC

“Enemies to lovers” 
Hidden identity
Magic world building 👍🏾

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Misogyny, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, and Death of parent

jennfs10's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense 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

5.0

It was a slow start for me and while I liked Kiva’s character, I wasn’t immediately engaged. I kept hearing that the plot twist was the best part. I think that was the biggest reason why I I kept reading at a steady pace and this was a Reading Society book club read for March. I will admit, by the end I thought it’d end as a typical YA fantasy HEA but the plot twist completely turned it into an unexpected but much more interesting character arc for Kiva. I’ve already started the second book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

lightn1ngb0lt's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

bint_idris517's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark medium-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

5.0

I don’t usually write reviews on here but this book…this book deserves one! The constant plot twists had me spiralling and I got to the end and was left gobsmacked…need to read the second book ASAP!!! I can’t believe what just happened🫢🫢😭😭

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Addiction, Self harm, and Sexual assault