Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

The Will of the Many by James Islington

14 reviews

halebop's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Very unique world building and it really teases at a lot more going on beneath the surface that presumably we'll discover in the rest of the series. MC manages not to veer completely into being too overpowered due to his rage and grief. Interesting array of characters. Very mysterious plot that will keep you guessing and trying to puzzle things out. Very much looking forward to the rest of the series coming out. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Child death and Death of parent

witchvial's review against another edition

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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Slavery, Violence, Murder, and Colonisation

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Vomit

oxfordcommas91's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

4.5

I wanted to give this book 5 stars, but there were a few things that kept this at a 4.5 for me.
I struggled in the first 20% of the book. I know at the outset of a fantasy novel, you have to establish the world and the magical system but I’m not convinced this was the best way to do it. The first hour or two of reading dragged and seemed a bit disconnected to the rest of the story. 
Once we hit the “meat” of the book I was fairly hooked. There are some great twists and it’s very immersive. It feels very much like a grown up Harry Potter in a far more complex magic system - our protagonist, Vis, is an orphan who attends an elite boarding school and is immediately embroiled in a dangerous world of power and manipulation. Despite having an incredibly influential benefactor, it’s up to Vis to navigate the deception of his new life (and the bodies stacking up all around him). 
The end was an excellent cliff hanger and I can’t wait for the next novel to be published in this series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death

taliaalongi's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Violence, and Murder

badbadwolf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

jalexpulliamkepler's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Amazing! The best fantasy book I’ve read in a long time!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Genocide, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, War, and Classism

Minor: Animal death

jennanaps's review

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Classism

saltycoffee's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Slavery, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

josiah17's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

4.5

Well, I think this book lived up to the hype. I really don't have any major criticisms. I think it's quite well-rounded and well-written.

"Nervousness means there's a fear to be faced ahead, Diago. The man who is never nervous, never does anything hard. The man who is never nervous, never grows."

For starters, the worldbuilding hooked me immediately. The Roman-inspired setting and cultures, and the soft magic system were very captivating and everything took off from there. 

I also think Vis is a great protagonist and he's easy to root for. He's been wronged by the Hierarchy and for most of the book, he's juggling both his hidden identity and the new role he receives. This creates for some very dynamic dialogue and high stakes quite early on in the book which is maintained for the entirety of the story. And Vis isn't overly dramatic with his narration which is relieving to read for a first person present tense POV. But he does have his other flaws. Also, there are some other great characters too. I loved Eidhin and Callidus

(I'm empty)

of course. Ulciscor and Lanistia were interesting. Some of the other academy students were fun to be around too. The side characters don't necessarily have the same depth as Vis, but I do think they're serviceable and I trust they will become even better as the series progresses. There's already signs of that in a few characters.

"The power to protect is the highest of responsibilities...When a man is given it, his duty is not only to the people he thinks are worthy."

The plot was truly exceptional too. It's probably my favorite part about this book. There's a magic school, plenty of scheming and misleading, lots of betrayal, and layers of different rivalries and factions opposed against one another. It's very entertaining and keeps you engaged. There's signs of something even larger at stake too, especially with the ending of this book. And speaking of the ending.....that was crazy. 

Really enjoyed this. I'm glad it lived up to the hype. Might even bump to 5 stars later. And I was also pleasantly surprised with Islington's writing. As I mentioned before, the dialogue was fantastic and really shines, but the prose overall is very nice and readable. I'll probably try to read Islington's Licanius Trilogy sooner rather than later. But I really need the sequel to this book ASAP. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery and Blood

nkem_ani's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Slavery

Minor: Colonisation