Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Book of Night (B&N Exclusive Edition) by Holly Black

120 reviews

maregred's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious slow-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Classism

Minor: Incest, Sexual content, and Abandonment

eve_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

3.0

⁕ Black's main character Charlie is rough around the edges to the extreme (think Alex from Ninth House or even Katniss from The Hunger Games). It wouldn't be a problem, except this character trait becomes her entire personality and she comes across as the stereotypical "tough girl" (very flat indeed). I could not connect to her emotionally at all!

⁕ Despite the high stakes of the conflict that Charlie is caught in, the development of the main action was incredibly slow. I was bored and had to force myself to slog through most of the book until the last 50 pages or so when things started to pick up.

⁕ The world-building is lacking, specifically the magic systems.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Gore, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Gun violence and Medical trauma

eimearo_c's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Violence, Blood, and Murder

thoughtsontomes's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I wasn't a huge fan of TCP, so I didn't go into this with any expectations but was hoping to like this more than her other work. I find that Holly Black's writing style doesn't really work for me. She has some cool worlds and magic systems, but under-develops them. Her writing style is lacking and leaves me wanting more. Side characters don't feel very fleshed out. And Charlie as a main character felt a little heavy handed with the morally grey thief thing which has become a little overdone these days. I did really enjoy Vince as a character though and would have almost preferred more from his POV. Some of the mystery elements were also compelling, even if I figured a few of them out beforehand. I'm also a bit annoyed that the ending makes this obvious that it's at least going to be a duology but was not marketed as such - which is kind of annoying when it's a cliffhanger ending. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Self harm, Torture, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Drug abuse

Minor: Incest and Sexual assault

kaseybereading's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, and Blood

katvou's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Violence, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gun violence and Sexual content

jocelyn62013's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

3.5

Not a stand-alone! I definitely feel like it was marketed as one so the ending is frustrating when you expected it to wrap up. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Child abuse and Vomit

karapillar's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Misogyny, Torture, Grief, Stalking, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content

tamara_joy's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Death, Gore, and Blood

Minor: Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content

sydapel's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-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? No

3.5

this had better be the start of a series, that's all I'm saying. There were a lot of elements I liked about this, from a plus sized kick ass female MC to the themes of greed and memory and forgiveness that always really draw me to urban fantasy. My grievance comes mainly from how little I felt I understood any of the magical elements, especially in the final act. Sure, I was hanging on every thread, but I'm not entirely sure I followed them in their entirety. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Vomit