Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons

41 reviews

gummiefox's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

this book is complicated, but i loved it! one of the few that i feel the need to go back and reread immediately after finishing it. i'll definitely have to reread it before i start the next in the series.
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rainbowcircus's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

4.25

I've read other reviews for this book and whole I understand it may not be for everyone I had a fantastic time. Kihrin is a fun MC to follow and learn about his story and the way the narrative is presented makes it easy to follow along.
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meg_leigh's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book was recommended to me as "Game of Thrones but without the gratuitous gore and violence against women/children). That person and I must have different definitions of "gratuitous." 

It was also just so freaking hard to follow what was happening. I thought it was me but reviews show I'm not alone. I'm curious what happens in the next book, but I don't think I'm curious enough to delve back into this world. 
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motherofdogs's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious slow-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

5.0

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vigil's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

i can see why this book wouldn't work for everyone but it did for me. i absolutely devoured 500 pages in three days, in the time where i'm still slagging through an arduously obnoxious 291 pages of another book as of writing this review. i love storytelling that comes to you in puzzle pieces (though the author graciously gives you exactly what you need, if a plot point hinges on previously given vague information) and odd narrative structures. i love stories where the world feels truly lived in, where you are given so much worldbuilding and lore, especially stories that just have so much going on in them, whether its in the scope of the main plot or not. Because of this, i did enjoy the footnotes (not to mention here, the footnotes had a plot purpose and explanation that i found satisfying) despite generally being a footnotes hater in fiction. i'm very impressed with this being the authors debut novel, and i will definitely be continuing with the series. 

also, mild critique / wants for further installments
this book was very obviously interested in sex and sexual abuse in a way i found thoughtful, but somewhat wanting. i found the execution to be well done, but i would enjoy a deeper exploration of the topic, especially from one of the sex workers / slaves, since i think their perspective was sorely lacking in this book. however, i do hear that is something that is followed up on in later installments, so i'll withhold judgement on this front. i would also like more handling of khirin's trauma as well. i understand why it couldn't be lingered on for too long for practicalities, but as we enter territories regarding relationships for him in the coming books, i think it would be a good way to tackle it more. despite everything, it still seemed to haunt him over the novel, but wasn't addressed much. 


also shout out to jenn lyons for creating a male protag i actually enjoy. not very many cases! 
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mysimas's review against another edition

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adventurous dark slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

If the lines ‘Luke, I am your father.’ and ‘You’re a wizard, Harry.’ ever banged and had a child, it would be this book. 90% of the plot and twists are revelations of this kind except with little to no build up, it’s honestly so over the top it could be satire.

Another thing that irked me was the total absence of mystery. Everything was revealed straight away. Oh, so this person actually isn’t this guy’s mom? Huh, who could the real mom be — oh, the author tells us on the next page, okay. Ohh, and this person might actually be someone completely different? I wonder who — oh okay, I see. And so on and so forth.

Awarding stars for some good scenes (loved the kraken fight) and also the strange and addictive readability. I never like flashbacks… But here, literally 80% of the book was flashbacks (more if you count the asterisk notes), and for some reason it was ok. 
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adragoninspace's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.25

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marleens's review against another edition

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

3.5

First of all: this book had some really great writing, there were so many sentences I highlighted as impactful quotes. The tension was high, there was much adventure and action, and I enjoyed the humour and snarkiness, both in the main story and in the footnotes. Also loved many of the side characters, and the worldbuilding was definitely impressive. Why I can’t rate it higher at this moment is mostly the confusion. The way the story was told was definitely inventive, Kihrin’s past being told in two timelines alternating chapters. But the more recent timeline, told by Kihrin himself was often so confusing to me because it would mention people or events that we hadn’t met/experienced yet in the older timeline. Despite being intrigued I found it often hard to keep track of who was who, what was happening, and what Kihrin knew or didn’t know about in each of the timelines. it was a slow and confusing, but nevertheless enjoyable read for me. I can see this getting a higher rating on reread when things are less muddled. 
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gladiolus17's review against another edition

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Soft DNF for now. I think this is too complex for me to listen on audiobook. When my library gets a physical copy I would like to read it with my eyes.
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ruthlessreads's review against another edition

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

2.0

Lots of things I loved about this book, including the world building and the interesting magic system. However, I’m always filled with distaste when systems of slavery are present, regardless of whether or not the text condemns it (this one does condemn it). The plot of this book is largely dependent on these systems of slavery and it was hard to enjoy the book for that reason. I gave 2 stars purely for the talent of the writer, which shines through at every turn, and the quality of the actual syntax. That said, the content just didn’t do it for me and idk that I’d read another book by this author. Also, not nearly enough dragons for a book with a giant dragon on the front. 
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