Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood

3 reviews

starccato's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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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ruthlessreads's review against another edition

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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? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

This book was exactly the dark epic fantasy I wanted but didn't know it. It starts a little slow while the world building is established but once it gets into gear, the plot doesn't stop until the last page. There are so many twists and turns, I was never able to predict what would happen next. It's also SECRETLY GAY. Well, not really secret, but it's not mentioned anywhere in the summary or elsewhere that there's a sapphic romance at the core of the novel. It's still primarily a fantasy novel, with plenty of slash and stab adventures & sparkle and bang magic to fulfill all your fantasy adventure desires. But it's also a tender coming of age story about learning who to trust and who to fight for when you've been raised to believe a fight is all you're good for. It's about defying & subverting expectations by being true to the person you discover along the adventure of your life. I really loved this book & highly recommend it for fans of Gideon the Ninth! The main characters give me Harrow & Gideon energy. 

Okay, so brief summary: Csorwe, though she's only 14, is a clergy member at the temple of the Unspoken One. As she is poised to sacrifice herself in a religious ritual, she is rescued & smuggled away by Sethennai, a powerful & brilliant mage. Sethennai raises Csorwe to be his weapon, training her to fight, and tasking her with retrieving The Reliquary--an object of extreme power & knowledge. On one of many trips to discover the location of this item, Csorwe meets Struthmili & everything she thought she knew about herself, her job, and her path in life will be called into question when she is faced with a difficult decision: fight for the item she's tasked to recover or save the life of someone for whom she's developing complicated feelings. Again and again, Csorwe will be faced with decisions that alter her fate & lead her down paths she never expected to return. What is at the end of her story? I guess you'll have to read it to find out!
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kylieqrada's review

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adventurous dark emotional sad 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

5.0

This is the perfect book to finish my 2021 reading challenge on. I absolutely loved this!!! It will definitely not be everyone's cup of tea, but my god, it was mine! All the cups!!! Dark, eerie, queerie (hehehe), and character-driven with the most epic world-building. Csorwe and Shuthmilie are everything and Tal??? He adds that levity that balances it all out. It sort of gave me Senera/Relos Var from the A Chorus of Dragons series by Jenn Lyons vibes, which is HIGH PRAISE. I cannot wait for The Thousand Eyes. 
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