Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Gilded Cage by Lynette Noni

8 reviews

tabea1409's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Addiction, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

alyarchive's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I was on toes quite the whole time reading the book. There were many new characters introduced and each of them has their own charm as they bring their personalities and skills into the pack for their adventure. The found family is being built slowly in this book, and I love that this book has a lot of foreshadowing that keeps you guessing the real villain and those who are trustworthy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

smkelly1997's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious fast-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

4.25

Overall, a great book, however not as good as the first one.  Blood family vs found family is an interesting pull thought this book. The entire book I wanted to scream at Kiva. This however made her such a complex and interesting character. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

ameydireads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

“Our scars define us. They tell a story of courage and survival. They tell of who we are at our deepest being, of the challenges we've faced and overcome. Not all scars are as visible as this. I daresay you have many more on the inside. But never forget that every scar is beautiful. And you should never, ever, be ashamed of them.”

I didn’t expect to finish this book so fast. It was amazing and I will tell you why! Kiva goes to Vallenia with Jaren and Tipp, where she meets the Vallentis family, her sworn enemy. It seems they are not as bad as she’s been told. Despite their own problems, the royal family is inherently a loving family, akin to a normal family. Their acceptance and trust in Kiva are astounding and somewhat unexpected. This complicates her task further and, as expected, Kiva is torn between the two sides. She learns more about both sides and discovers some very interesting things about her own family. Prepare yourself for another set of twists. After reading the first book I was expecting there to be twists and I must say, they lived up to expectations. It seems that even outside of Zalindov’s walls the only person you can trust is yourself. 

This book introduces us to more characters and one of my favourite, aside from Jaren (duh), is definitely Nanna Delora. This lady just wants to be left in peace to enjoy her book club with some scones. That woman is a vibe. I’m sure my fellow readers can also relate! 
Another favourite character of mine is Caldon. This guy has great intuition and there's so much more to him than we think! Queen Ariana also deserves a special mention. She’s a loving mother who cares so much about her children. She gives them a shoulder to cry on and devotes her time to hearing them out. However, she still struggles with her addiction to Angeldust though. It's very mature of Jaren and Mirryn to remember that it's the drug and not the user. It’s one thing to hear Jaren mentioning it, but another to experience it through Kiva’s eyes. That was super scary and heartbreaking.

Overall it was a well-written book, definitely a page turner. I love the way this story is told and how everything is connected. I couldn't stop reading. It was a tense book with some wholesome & hopeful moments but also some really frustrating moments.

In the first book Kiva talks to the Warden about Tipp’s release. He tells her that Tipp could be released to his guardian if they came for him, but at that moment I did not make a connection to Kiva. She too was very young when she came to Zalindov. This angers Jaren as well and he demands to know why Torr left her to rot in Zalindov when they had the opportunity to free her. I don't get why Tilda would rather break her out of the notoriously impenetrable Zalindov when they could also just go get her before she turned 12. That was honestly such a horrible thing to do and I don’t get why Tilda would wish that upon her daughter. And how ironic, or I should rather say diabolical, that Kiva ends up in Zalindov!

I am so excited to read the next, and final, book! Kiva might not have turned on Jaren, but as far as he knows she did lie to him and betray his trust. I wonder if there’s still hope for them…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Vomit, and Death of parent

Minor: Murder and War

styxx's review

adventurous 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

zozo_reads's review

adventurous 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

5.0

Nothing could have prepared me for that cliffhanger omg it was so good. The signs were all there at the end and a lot of Kiva’s decisions annoyed me but I guess her character is a bit stubborn. Now I’m so excited for the next one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent and Toxic friendship

Minor: War

scarlettskyes's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, and Grief

Moderate: Terminal illness

nitya_a's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Blood, Kidnapping, and Grief