Reviews tagging 'Gore'

A Gathering of Shadows, by V.E. Schwab

14 reviews

trintrin's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

THAT ENDING!!!! ;-;

Okay so plot-wise pretty much nothing significant happens other than the Essen Tasch and it was quite slow and mostly felt like a filler book but MY GOD did I enjoy this more than I thought I would. The writing is beautiful as expected from Schwab, the characters are so loveable and relatable and I love that their personalities were so much more explored in this one.

Lila is a badass and I'm totally in love with her. Rhy is still a sweetheart and I wanna protect him with my life. Kell, oh, Kell, I still wanna give you a hug, you poor boy. I can't make up my mind if Alucard has an ulterior motive or not. I like him nonetheless. Absolutely adore Rhy and Kell's dynamic.

Spoiler

I was so proud of Holland's come back but then he had to go ahead and ruin it ://

Terrified but also excited to start the next one after that cliff hanger of an ending.

Spoilers for the Grishaverse:

Spoiler

I was thinking just how much Alucard reminded me of Nikolai Lantsov -- aka the prince turned pirate privateer -- what with how those two are so annoyingly charming but also how Alina/Lila describe how they wear different faces for different occasions. I really should've known Alucard would also be royal with the way he was so fluent in High Royal, but somehow I totally wasn't expecting that lol

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Confinement, and Violence

Moderate: Kidnapping, Murder, Self harm, Alcohol, Death, and Gore

pagesof_autumn's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Torture

Moderate: Gore

Minor: Homophobia

vaguely_pink'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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Confinement

Moderate: Self harm, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Classism, and War

Minor: Cursing, Sexual content, Abandonment, Vomit, and Gore

nabaraditi's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.75

 This competition thing reminded me of Goblet of Fire (there's no resemblance other than the fact that both are competitions) But still. And the book felt like it was all about this competition. A new character was added

Spoiler

a love interest for our pretty, charming prince Rhy

which I felt like why...????? 

Spoiler

I also didn't understand the logic behind Rhy and Kell in making Kell join the competition. TO BLOW OFF STEAM??? CATHARSIS??? REAAAAAALLLLLYYYYYYYY???????? i feel keeping you and your brother safe is more important. Hence, i sort of didn't feel bad and i could feel myself agreeing with King Maxim for imprisoning Kell. Lila joining the competition... I like her character at times but there are multiple times when I dislike her when she's being bloody stupid. She seemed to participate out of spite for Alucard?? Like i'm not mad. This fits her character. She is egoistic (at least i find her egoistic)

 

I quite enjoyed the first book and I thought the first book was like a build up for the next books but it seems so was this 2nd one! And I don’t want to say I was disappointed as such but I did have trouble picking this book up. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Self harm

Moderate: Violence, Gore, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Confinement

reddeddy's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful inspiring mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

i am just *inhales*……Delilah Bard…..you are insane….but you’re also a fucking badass…..i had some issues with this book through the middle and towards the end, but that ending….i’m kinda shook…..that final line gave me literal chills.

overall a solid sequel, and im so looking forward to the last one, especially after that cliffhanger…i mainly had issues with some of the character development, especially Lila, because i feel like she doesn’t get the same kind of nuance as Kell or even Rhy, especially with everything going on, it feels like she doesn’t ever get the same emotional depth the others do, but hopefully in the next book she will!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Murder, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Violence, Toxic friendship, Body horror, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Death

Moderate: Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Classism, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Ableism, Confinement, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Cursing, Dysphoria, Grief, Torture, and Sexual assault

Minor: Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Bullying, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Dementia, Misogyny, and War

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-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

4.0

I appreciate the way that VE Schwab builds on the world in this book, giving us more about the magic system. Especially how it relates to other areas outside of London. The magical tournament was probably my favorite aspect of this story. While magical tournaments aren't new, I enjoyed the way it was written in this, and Lila's determination to join even if she isn't the most skilled magician.

Rhy might be my favorite character in this; I just think he is one of the most interesting and complex. Kell and Lila aren't terrible, but I found Lila to get a bit repetitive towards the end of this book. Becuase I didn't really realize how long this book was!

Overall, I do think this book suffers a bit from second book sydrome, especially at the beginning. It felt like it was a little longer than it needed to be, but I guess there is some build up for the third book. Which I'll definitely be reading, because I still need to know how it ends! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Murder, Self harm, and Gore

Minor: Cursing and Kidnapping

bookmuffin's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Minor: Self harm

toorsdenote's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-paced

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

3.0

Definitely lower stakes than the first book, which was a bit of a disappointment. More Hunger Games than A Darker Shade of Magic. A+ love triangling though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore

Moderate: Alcohol, Kidnapping, and Confinement

maryjames's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Kidnapping and Sexual content

birthisacurse's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence