Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten

5 reviews

cdoubet's review

adventurous dark tense medium-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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Death, Torture, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Murder, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Classism, Violence, Confinement, Child death, Death of parent, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Genocide, Cursing, Grief, Gore, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Animal death and Animal cruelty

Minor: Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

madscientistcat's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

Great intrigue, a bit new adult in tone, while dark and well written. A unique magic system with an interesting spin on religion. The characters are flawed but so well realized it makes the drama feel all the more real and out of control. Definitely looking forward to more from this story and world.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Torture

theespressoedition's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Child death, Blood, Murder, Animal death, and Gore

Moderate: Cursing, Violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, War, Vomit, and Torture

Minor: Sexual content

bibliomania_express's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

3.5

The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten follows a deathwitch in a world of death magic to the heart of political and religious intrigue. This book has some of your classis YA tropes, including the love triangle between the tough, emotionally scarred orphan main character who has chosen-one abilities, the brooding and mysterious guy who believes in the world's system (or most of it) and has to work with her, and the charming and powerul prince. Throw in some class issues, death magic, corrupt religion and politics, the threat of a war, and a mystery to solve, and that's this book.

I have mixed feelings, and some of that stems from the fact that this is the first in a series. But also that the middle of this book, with most of the investgating, is rather drawn out, where the end happens in a violent (and I do mean violent) rush. I was left with a bit of worldbuilding whiplash, trying to parse exactly what different characters are thinking. Also there was a lot of the final reveals that felt obvious, although there was also one part I didn't guess.

There are also some plot threads dropped just for the sake of it being a first book in a series, so hopefully some of them get picked up in the next book. 

Beyond some of the unfortunate side effects from a YA love triangle, I really liked Lore. She's tough, determined, and actually has a strong sense of right and wrong for a poison runner. I also liked Gabe and Bastian for most of the book. The mystery itself was interesting, but I think the solution was a bit weak.

Rating: 3.5/5

*I receieved an eARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Classism, Body horror, Death, Confinement, Religious bigotry, and Drug use

Moderate: Vomit, Abandonment, Addiction, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, and Animal death

Minor: War, Terminal illness, and Stalking

loveinpanels's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Death

Moderate: Abandonment, Torture, Religious bigotry, and Murder