Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Das Reich der Vampire by Jay Kristoff

31 reviews

novel_obscurity's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Main character is challenging, and the book ends on a cliff hanger that was a bit predictable. Overall, not bad - writer does a good job with creating tension and fear!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Outing, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

shannonvonpesach's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.5

It was too slow paced for me, it could've been shorter imo. I did love the worldbuilding but not the way it was narrated. Sometimes I was so confused with where I was. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Emotional abuse

simmich429's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

5.0

starts off very slow but SOOOO worth it. can’t wait for the book 2 to come out

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

novaleestar's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.5

I loved this book just as much as anticipated! It is a dark, macabre trek through an endless forest full of horrible frights, and I often felt as if I were a phantom being led through a bloody painting. Viseral, beautiful, heart wrenching. Jay Kristoff always does such a good job making me reach out to find the hope he has hidden in the darkest nooks and flaws of his characters. This was no exception, and I can't wait for the next book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Torture, Excrement, and Death of parent

grets_reads'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Gore, Sexual content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Animal death, Homophobia, Physical abuse, and Slavery

pippohno's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

I'd probably rate this around a 2.5/5 stars. There was a lot of good, a lot of bad, a lot of ick, and a lot of unnecessary plot twists... but it was still pretty entertaining I guess.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Blood, and Grief

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

I made it to book 2 chapter 4 and the main character is is incredibly unlikeable and honestly kinda whiny that i had to just give up. Also there is hardly any action as well. Like 3 cool parts up till this point. The rest is like lore and politics 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

andromeda_1998's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

sandrae04's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Drug use, Torture, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, and War

jlynnelseauthor's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

"Empire of the Vampire" is a journey. Its a long one as our main character, de Leon, is recounting his heart-rending life to a vampire historian. This is like, perhaps, an 18th-Century-esque French setting. There's a large amount of world building particularly around religion. The religion is basically Christianity but with subtle differences.

The book goes down a bit for its treatment of women. Many women are clearly there to entice the male reader. The main female vampire is often touching herself and trying to sexually manipulate the men chasing her...in public no less--very annoying. Women are often brutalized more explicitly than male characters. And if you're a woman, stay away from de Leon

Spoiler

, they have an annoying habit of dying to advance his emotional storyline

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Besides a couple people, everyone else curses like a sailor. Every. Single. Person. There is an excessive use of the word c*nt, but most often its variations on f*ck. The book is also much more sexually explicit than I'm used to reading. There's even underage sex, including a drawn photo in the book, which is not a welcome addition. Finally, it's extremely violent and bloody.

With everything being said, there are epic battles, hidden religious secrets, a vow of vengeance, and a struggle of faith. De Leon is an intriguing character. Kristoff does have some beautiful passages about choice and life and fate. I don't know if I'd be able to read a book 2 as I can't imagine keeping all of this in my head!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Moderate: Homophobia and Rape