Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Duivelsvlucht by Leigh Bardugo

72 reviews

cre8withcait's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Minor: Addiction, Cursing, Gun violence, Racism, Self harm, Torture, Police brutality, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Classism

ta2dlibrarian's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful 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

3.5

Solid sequel with a plot twist and a cliffhanger ending. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content and Toxic relationship

klsreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

*Extremely long sigh* I made a mistake because I thought this was the final book, not the second in a trilogy. I read it thinking it was going to wrap everything up and ended up pretty disappointed. I was wrong!! That being said, I don't think Hell Bent hit it out of the park like I thought it would. There was so much action and (dare I say) extraneous plot devices that I got whiplash. This isn't the first time I felt that way with Bardugo's writing. I think it worked in Six of Crows, but not as much here. The darkness requires some sitting, some stewing. I think Bardugo needs to fully commit to the audience - is this adult? Mature YA? There's sexual violence, but no sexual autonomy or processing. There's physical and emotional violence, but it doesn't settle. There's urgency, but less understanding. Things aren't reckoned with. College kids don't always act like college kids, cops don't act like cops, people are just kind of...off? I wanted to sit more in the big moments and implications, but found myself getting rushed along despite the first ~300 pages dragging. 

I'm giving this a 4 because I love the premise of the series, and I hope that Bardugo can pull it off with the final novel. There are SO many interesting things going on, and I think she can recapture the balance of the first book, answer the big questions, and actually explore power, class, racism, sexism, colonialism, and violence in academia. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual violence, Vomit, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

Minor: Animal cruelty, Child death, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

aimeemg155's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

_laurenslittlelibrary_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

jeggert10's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Grief, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Child death, Drug use, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Fire/Fire injury

frawst_disasta_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

I have read this book three times.  I absolutely love this book.  Alex brings us back to Yale.  She’s now Dante.  Sure, she still presides over rituals.  But she’s focused on saving Darlington.

And that’s this book.  A book about what lengths a person will take to save someone else and the maybe just maybe a person will go too far.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Misogyny and Sexism

emilywemily6's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

I still really enjoyed this book, but the major themes differed greatly from what I loved and what intrigued me in the first book. This book was less dark academia/Yale and secret society lore, which I missed. And while the plot had plenty to twists and turns, some parts were slow and I didn’t really see where the book was going. This book takes the series in a different direction than the first, and I’m not sure if I will like that direction as much as the first book. Though I’m excited to read more in the series and see how it goes!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Body horror, Sexual content, and Kidnapping

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug use, and Medical content

sheebsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

leexpen's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.75

📝 SYNOPSIS:
I love you to Hell and back. Immersed in a world of occult magic, Alex vows to return her mentor from Hell with the help of her friends and a magical gift that is hers alone.
👩‍🏫⛪️👻📜💀🐇😈🧛‍♂️🎩

👍🏻 RECOMMENDATION:
💚 READ it! 

💬 FAVORITE QUOTES:
[PENDING]

👓 FORMAT: 
🎧

📑 COMMENTS:
• Um, this is a sequel? LOL I jumped in here, and it works fine.
• In the contemporary fantasy setting, Bardugo captures the dark academic aesthetic well. When it comes to the real-life setting, the northeast and California are believable (but I haven't spent enough time in Connecticut specifically to judge that). The magic system is convoluted, but the loose logic does fall apart at the end.
• The characters are complex, three-dimensional, and flawed. Their races and genders influence them in meaningful ways. Some are more lovable than others, but they are all understandable. Mercy & Turner are my personal favorites! The antagonists are rounded, too. 
• Apt imagery and metaphors flow into the prose. There's plenty to dissect if that's your thing. (It's mine!) I'd love to see it on the page, particulaely to see the tome excerpts.
• Why did they switch audiobook narrators so late into the story? It was jarring, and it pulled me out of the story! The character's voice is defined, but I also hate it. It adds nothing to the story. Overall, Part Two lags.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Sexual content

Minor: Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Drug use, Self harm, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Colonisation