Reviews tagging 'Child death'

A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon

72 reviews

krisawesome's review against another edition

3.5

I liked the world building better in this prequel to The Priory of the Orange Tree, and I thought the multiple storylines were better balanced here too. Although some of those storylines proved to be more emotional for postpartum me than I had anticipated… I’d actually started reading this book while I was still pregnant but wow was I not prepared for the extra feelings I’d have as a new mom about some of the themes.

Pacing is still kind of all over the place though, with the first part being too slow and the ending too fast.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

hannahpings's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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? No

4.5

my god i fell in love with this book and these people and this world. i never wanted it to end and i'm so sad it did. every single one (not an exaggeration!) of its characters had significant depth and nuance, and felt authentic in a way i wasn't necessarily expecting. i'm not going to be able to forget about any of them any time soon, and i wouldn't want to. it's also seeped in the lore and complex politics that i was craving after its predecessor. 

i also loved priory––i think it was fantastic––but for me, there's been a marked improvement in samantha shannon's writing between the two. a day of fallen night gives itself time to breathe, has pitch-perfect pacing, and doesn't fall prey to the same "and then all this happened btw and now we're here" telling-not-showing issue that priory does.

this book made me feel a way i haven't felt in 20 years at least. i truly cannot wait to read all 868 pages again

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Suicide, and Vomit

tinybluepixel's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Infertility

Minor: Suicide

bleepbloop's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

4.5

really good! VERY closely follows the general plot, world and characters of a song of ice and fire but if it were feminist

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and War

Moderate: Xenophobia

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Suicide

sehenry20's review against another edition

adventurous 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

quechaya's review against another edition

• 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

This book is way better than Priory, and it's not even close.
I remember reaching a part in this book where I thought "oh no, this is where the bad things start happening to them" and realizing in that moment how expertly the author made me care for these characters. I haven't connected so strongly with book characters in a very long time. Every time the POV changed, I was left wanting more, but the next POV would instantly pull me in. I will remember these characters for a very long time.
I have two critiques. The first is that

humans vs wyverns is just not that interesting to read over and over and over, with every POV character, so some of the battle scenes toward the end felt repetitive. Conflicts between humans are much more interesting.

The second is:

the author knows what we want, but gave us an ambiguous ending for one of the lesbian pairs anyway?? GIVE US WHAT WE WANT. WE ARE STARVING.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and War

dragongirl271's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, and Death of parent

Minor: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, and Cannibalism

volsungreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Blood, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: Animal death, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, and Classism

the_reading_wren's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

Wow, what a story! Darker and more brutal than Priory, but beautiful and wise as well. A great foundation for the Roots of Chaos series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Child death and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Confinement, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Excrement, Medical content, Cannibalism, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Colonisation, and Classism

yikeslou's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

5.0

Samantha Shannon has done it again with a book I'll never be able to stop thinking about ever!!! I have too many screaming thoughts for a coherent review. But this was without question a 5 ⭐ epic with everything I've ever wanted in a fantasy novel: war, tragedy, comedy, found family, lesbian milf warriors, trans scientists, ace aro princesses with mommy issues, religious fervor, the SLOWEST BURN I'VE EVER READ... more to come as I wake sweating in the night thinking about the Roots of Chaos. I can never thank Shannon enough for making this into a series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Blood, Death of parent, and Pregnancy