Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Oleander Sword by Tasha Suri

27 reviews

laurenw's review against another edition

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Murder, Religious bigotry, Grief, War, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, and Death

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, and Animal death

Minor: Vomit, Torture, Xenophobia, and Sexual content

sophie42's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, War, Fire/Fire injury, Death, and Misogyny

Moderate: Body horror, Blood, Alcohol, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Suicide, Torture, Grief, and Sexual content

leaflit's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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 liked this one better than the first one. I wasn’t sure I was going to keep going with the series after the first book but I’m glad I did and looking forward to the third.  Lots going on, faster pace and getting deeper into the lore. Ends with a lot of plot lines set up for an exciting sequel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Vomit, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Death, Murder, War, Religious bigotry, Genocide, Violence, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexism

Moderate: Sexual content, Animal death, Kidnapping, Torture, Drug use, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Gore, Terminal illness, Child abuse, Confinement, Blood, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Domestic abuse

sapphic_book_dragon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury and Body horror

Moderate: Addiction, Misogyny, Sexism, and Racism

plume_de_renarde's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury and War

Moderate: Body horror, Sexual content, and Misogyny

Minor: Torture

mar's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

i have to wait HOW long until the third book??? 😭😭😭

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Misogyny, Murder, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide and Grief

Minor: Sexual content

greymalkin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

What a gorgeous and fascinating world Tasha Suri has created!  I really enjoyed Jasmine Throne but I like Oleander Sword even more.  The writing is smoother and more assured, and the characters finally  have just enough power and momentum to start making really big choices.  

I enjoyed the evolution of Malini and Priya's relationship since it was always going to be complicated and messy and it's good that the book embraced that.  The only thing I didn't really like was the forced ending.  I completely get that they needed to set this up for the third book but it felt jarring and not very believable.  I wish it had been the other way around where Priya watches as the yaska puppet her body and kill Malini and the horror and grief hollows her out completely to let the yaska in.  And so Priya flees, not knowing that Malini actually lives due to the mothers keeping her alive (and of course they exact their own price from Malini- perhaps Malini's love or memories of Priya).  That would feel more in keeping with the emotional tenor of their relationship- where Malini keeps having to give away pieces of herself and Priya keeps having to bow to to a great power even as it sickens her, and this could be the "rock bottom".  Oh well.  It was still an excellent book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Death, Body horror, Murder, and Sexism

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse

hailstorm3812's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

A great second book that doesn't fall into the second book sag a lot of series do. It builds on the first book with both plot and relationships while introducing new elements to carry us forward. I got really attached to Bhlumika in this book. She's just so tragic and I love her. Also the ending was phenomenal and I can't wait for the next one.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, War, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Sexism, Lesbophobia, and Torture

sayhar13's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Body horror, Murder, War, and Fire/Fire injury

scrubsandbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.0

No Second Book Syndrome detected here! While the first book seemed to introduce us to the magic and the associated extensive world-building, this one seemed to focus more on the politics. Not only that but this one is more or less Malini's story while the first was Priya's. And these ladies absolutely gutted me. It was an incredible follow-up to The Jasmine Throne, and ends in a devastating cliffhanger.

Much like the first book, there were a number of different POVs but the quantity of different people were scaled down in comparison to the first. As a matter of fact, I think going back and rereading the first might make more sense now after reading this one and knowing who are or were the key players, either those who make it into this book or died in book one. I'm completely invested in seeing this through to the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, War, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Body horror

Moderate: Suicide and Child death

Minor: Confinement and Alcohol