Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Malice by John Gwynne

12 reviews

josiahpeterson17's review

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

4.5

The primary reason this isn't a 5 star read is because of the rough beginning. There's an overload of characters and POVs introduced and it just felt a little overwhelming and chaotic. 

Otherwise, this was an absolutely phenomenal book. And it's a debut novel? Ridiculous. I think Gwynne's writing is slightly more polished in his Bloodsworn books, but his work here is still nothing short of excellent. The world of the Banished Lands that has been crafted is epic in scope, mysterious, mystical, and has an astounding amount of depth with various kingdoms, wildlife, and history. 

The characters are tremendous too. It took me a minute to warm up to Corban as he's thirteen at the start of the book, but by the end he's aged a few more years and he's clearly incredibly mature and well beyond his years. He's on his way to being an all-time favorite protagonist. And I loved the deliberate choice to view the descent of Nathair through the eyes of Veradis. I'm very intrigued by their dynamic going forward. And there are several other very likeable characters with standout moments and plenty of depth.  

And the action. My goodness John Gwynne is definitely the king of writing action sequences. I feel like I can picture every single movement; he writes them so vividly and immerses you right within the moment. 

I'm so excited to continue the series. I'm so excited to keep reading the rest of Gwynne's works. The Faithful and The Fallen will undoubtedly become a top 5 favorite series for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Gore

Minor: Animal cruelty and Torture

ripxw's review

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Animal death, Murder, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, and Blood

Moderate: Torture, Death, War, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism

dani_reis's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gore, Alcoholism, Death, Animal death, and War

Animal death

Spoiler

there is a pack of wolves that die in a hunt. Young cubs are killed. One does survive. It is an important moment of the story.

kat1105's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Child abuse, Misogyny, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, War, Torture, and Violence

ocean_the_reader's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

It took a while for me to actually get invested in this one. But when I did, I didn't want to put it down. I'm very intrigued to see what everyone's roles end up being.

And I definitely don't trust those Vin Thalun people. They're up to something that seems will benefit only them and will cause a lot of damage.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Blood, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Alcohol, Grief, and Murder

t_higgsreviews's review

dark tense medium-paced

4.0

4 Stars
CAWPILE = 7.07

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, War, Animal death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Vomit

darkefyres's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Violence, War, Alcohol, Animal death, Death, Murder, and Gore

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Animal cruelty, and Child death

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Physical abuse, and Torture

binches's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death, Kidnapping, Violence, War, Child abuse, and Blood

Moderate: Ableism and Sexism

Minor: Alcoholism

kerttuli's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Animal death, Death, Gore, and Blood

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Alcoholism, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

Minor: Physical abuse, Child death, and Kidnapping

kylieqrada's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

Beautifully Bookish Bethany described this on her channel as a good vs. evil story where both champions think they're fighting for good and it made me pick it up IMMEDIATELY. I am so so glad that I did. The multiple POVs are perfectly calibrated so that I'm always enjoying whatever perspective I'm in, while simultaneously dying to get back to where we left each plot thread. My personal fave character so far is definitely Corban, who reminds me of a way less annoying and problematic Kip from the Lightbringer series. I also love how John Gwynne is able to craft his travel and battle scenes so that I can actually picture it and not get totally lost and just skim read, which happens in epic fantasy more than I'd like to admit. Add in strong, dynamic female characters, epic world-building, and a body diverse cast, and I am LIVING. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and Violence