Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Tower of Swallows by Andrzej Sapkowski

6 reviews

breamfish1138's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Such a confusion of plotlines that it's basically fantasy Pulp Fiction but if you can get past that it's an extremely well written dark fantasy (read the first books first, though, or you'll be confused). Also,

Leo Bonhart is one of the most compelling evil bastards in literature.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Trafficking, Violence, Confinement, Gore, Emotional abuse, War, Vomit, Blood, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Death, Mental illness, Slavery, and Torture

Moderate: Miscarriage and Injury/Injury detail

starsfall's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Death, Violence, Child death, and War

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Homophobia

saltylane's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

4.0

Despite how confusing the jumping around of the narration could be, I did quite enjoy the varying viewpoints used. It was interesting to be able to read all the different characters’ perspectives. There are a lot of cliffhangers and enough intrigue to make me want to keep reading all the way to the end of the story/series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Physical abuse, Murder, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Child death, Child abuse, Body horror, and Blood

Moderate: Alcohol and War

Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Drug use, Grief, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, and Vomit

camoo3032's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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

3.25

One of the things I love about this series is the different perspectives that Sapkowski chooses to tell the story from. In this book there are several different perspectives which almost makes the book read as a collection of interwoven short stories. It's very clever and engaging but I did find it disorienting the first time.
It's also the most gruesome novel in the series

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Pedophilia, Torture, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Child abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Misogyny, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Ableism, Drug use, and Homophobia

Minor: Confinement, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Sexism, Suicide, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Vomit, War, Child death, Classism, Transphobia, Biphobia, Excrement, Miscarriage, Grief, Pregnancy, Abortion, Abandonment, and Sexual content

fiveredhens's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

1.75

favorite quotes:

'It's revolting! Revolting and sinful, Mr Houvenaghel, to be utilising a building which was once a place of worship for such an immoral, inhuman and disgusting practice! Animals also feel, Mr Houvenaghel! They also have their dignity! It's a crime to set animal against animal for the amusement of the common folk in the name of profit!'
'Calm yourself, you pious fellow! And don't meddle in my private enterprise! In any case, no animal shall be baited today. Not a single one! Exclusively people!'
'Oh. Then I do beg your pardon.'

Your vision is a world where people are afraid to venture out after dark; not for fear of cut-throats, but off the guardians of public order. For, after all, the result of all great crackdowns on miscreants is always that the miscreants enter the ranks of the guardians of public order en masse.

'What do you think ought to add to the painting?'
'Draw huge, erect phalluses on the primitive hunters.'

'Will I get Ciri back?'
The answer was immediate.
'You will. Only to lose her at once. And to be clear: forever; irrevocably. Before it comes to that, you will lose everybody who accompanies you. You will lose one of your companions in the next few weeks, perhaps even days. Perhaps even hours.'
'Thank you.'
'I haven't finished yet. The direct effect of your interference in the grinding querns of the Purpose and the Plan will be the death of tens of thousands of people. Which, as a matter of fact, doesn't matter much, since soon after, tens of millions of people will lose their lives. The world as you know it will simply vanish, cease to exist, in order – after a suitable time has passed – to revive in a totally different form. But in fact no one has, nor will have, any influence on it, no one is capable of preventing it nor staving off the course of events. Not you, not l, not sorcerers nor Sages. Not even Ciri. What do you say to that?'
'Purple bison.'

felt like it was kinda misery porn

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Excrement, Gore, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Drug use, Lesbophobia, and Pedophilia

Minor: Abandonment, Ableism, Animal death, Body shaming, Child death, Miscarriage, Rape, and Vomit

rachaelbunny's review

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, Slavery, Sexism, Sexual assault, Drug use, Physical abuse, and Misogyny

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Torture, Slavery, Religious bigotry, and Rape

Minor: Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Pedophilia