Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

6 reviews

katievallin's review

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted 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

2.0

Had a good start but got boring around halfway. Didn't really like the anti-marriage message. Katsa was entirely too good at all things, which made her and the plot boring. Also didn't really understand why she was so determined to help Bitterblue. And the climax was entirely anticlimactic. The world-building was a bit confusing, but that might've been because I listened to the audiobook, which wasn't very good (the full-cast version, at least).

I did like Bitterblue as a character, and I thought Katsa and Po's relationship was sweet.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Blood, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Child death, Sexual content, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Sexual harassment

qrschulte's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

Oh wow I inhaled this book. It’s so great to find characters I love and a world I can lose myself in. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Blood, Medical content, Grief, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Alcohol

gillian_aftanas's review against another edition

adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious relaxing 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Violence, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Incest, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Child death and Abortion

ava_ba's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

4.25

This book was outstanding I simply don’t care what anyone has to say, Katsa and Po were everything and Bitterblue deserves the planet

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Murder, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Vomit, Grief, Outing, and Sexual harassment

booksthatburn's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.0

This is a YA novel with an aspec protagonist (my best guess is she'd say demi if that language were available) who ends up in a relationship with someone who meets her on her terms rather than demanding she meet his. It's nice to see an aspec character whose aro/ace nature isn't overwritten or ignored in order to give her a relationship, how she is is part of how they are together.

It's about loneliness, abuse, and healing, including abuse to children and animals, so please be aware that those are major themes in the book. 

The world building is solid, with enough detail to make later revelations feel important. The explanations feel natural, occurring as something happens or Katsa thinks of some detail. This makes it feel like the world is slowly being revealed even though early on it's not new to the protagonist. I like Po, he had a difficult set of things to balance and overall I like how he is with Katsa. His situation towards the end skirts some potentially problematic ableist tropes but manages to not make it seem like his late-acquired disability is what gives him greater control of his powers. YMMV on whether this works, I think it does because of the precise order of events.

Overall I like this a lot and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual content