Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn

49 reviews

miles's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring 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: Racism, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Kidnapping, and Medical content

Moderate: Rape, Death, and Car accident

hailstorm3812's review

adventurous dark funny hopeful fast-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

AHHHHHHHH. There are drugs in these books, one of those books where you look down and have read 100 pages and didn't notice. I think this book did a good job building on the themes and relationships of the first one while expanding into new territory. I really liked the dynamics of the quartet we have for most of the book. Also can I say how much I love Alice. I'm so glad she's in this book more.

Spoiler

Also are we going poly ending?? I may be delusional but I think we could...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Hate crime, Death of parent, War, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Colonisation, Grief, Blood, Murder, and Genocide

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Car accident, and Torture

gabriella_'s review

dark emotional funny 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

This book has almost everything. Structures of oppression, intergenerational trauma, grief, romance, war, friendship conflicts, learned bigotry & privilege, and governmental conspiracy. It scratches any itch you have from Harry Potter, Maximum Ride, and The Hunger Games all rolled into one. Shit, it even satisfies the Warriors cat series fans too. It does all this will surpassing all of these series. Wish I had this when I was a younger, more voracious reader.

Tracy Deonn one-ups herself in this sequel book. This book further expands on characterizing her central cast while also giving other (more background) characters a chance in the limelight. She developed a core ensemble cast that feels compelling and stand-alone. This book made me cry, especially when

Spoiler

Bree talks with her mother

- Bloodmarked is raw and real. Bree is one of my favorite series protagonists I’ve ever read. She feels so real. I love reading about a protagonist who is strong, really strong, and in more than just a physical (or even girlboss) way. She has grit and emotional stamina and she’s navigating through systems rigged against her. 

More random things I love about this book that didn’t seem to have a place for me to write them in this review: 

• The rest of the cast - especially Selwyn - tugs at my heartstrings. 
• Tracy Deonn’s dream sequences are an amazing exploration of themes that are relevant later in the book and offer a refreshing way to engage with old magic.
• The descriptive settings!! 
• The use of LANGUAGE. Ugh. CARIAD!
• The men in this book have a “written by a woman” charm. Well, the men that matter do, at least.

I love the way this author lays the groundwork for future plot twists - she has a gift for finding a way to keep the reader on their toes without insulting their intelligence AND while still making the twists believable. Some you can see coming - but that’s a credit to her foreshadowing. 

I just want to keep gushing about this book because honestly it left me soooo hungry for the next book in this series!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Gore, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Slavery, Blood, Body horror, Death, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Grief, Physical abuse, Stalking, War, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Racism, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Child death, Classism, Cultural appropriation, and Torture

awkwardimagination's review

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

🫠🫠 I thought Legendborn burnt me out,,, at least I had the second book waiting for me. Now I have to wait for the third for some indeterminate amount of time.

The amount of pain and trauma every single character has gone through in this book is absurd. Just bc the first one had more deaths doesn't make this one any better. 

Because this is the second book all the characters are coming into their own more and becoming more loveable.

I'm still not onboard the Sel and Bree train, I wish they would be platonic like Will and Bree, but they are well written I'll give them that.

I'm looking forward to the next book, I need to know how this turns out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Blood, Rape, Violence, Sexism, Torture, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Medical trauma, Racism, and Grief

Minor: Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Car accident, Child abuse, and Death

breannajailene's review

adventurous emotional fast-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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Slavery, Torture, and Rape

shaipanda's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-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

This book was insaneee - I read it over a longer period than I probably would have otherwise since I read it mostly at work but I absolutely loved it and I cannot wait for the third and final one!! 
Truly one of the best series I’ve ever read and worth every bit of hype it’s gotten and more imo :) 
Is definitely a darker and more violent book/series at times tho so recommend checking trigger warnings 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Violence, Racism, Grief, and Kidnapping

Moderate: War, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Death, Rape, Torture, Toxic friendship, Slavery, and Murder

Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, and Abandonment

abookwormspov's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Death, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Sexism, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Forced institutionalization, Torture, Slavery, Rape, Emotional abuse, War, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Colonisation, Racism, Cursing, Grief, and Classism

willow_heartfilia's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gaslighting, Medical content, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, and Death

Moderate: Racism, Sexism, Torture, War, Blood, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Slavery and Rape

Regarding the slavery and rape content warnings, if you read the first book then you should know that

Spoiler

it is regarding situations in the past with the characters’ ancestors. However, unlike the first book where you experience the memory walk and witness some of their traumatic memories, Bloodmarked may refer to that knowledge gained in passing, but it doesn’t show anything as prominent.

martin27's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring tense fast-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

I had a lot of high expectations set by the first book, and this sequel goes above and beyond. The characters from the first book are just as enjoyable and easily remind me why I love them, and the new characters fit in seamlessly. I especially love that Alice got to be a main member of the cast for this one, since she spent the first book mostly as a background player. 

The world building is incredible and the different real world inspirations are balanced so well. And Deonn is especially good at writing hooks that keep you reading just one more page, just one more chapter… until you’re halfway through the book in one sitting. The twists are wonderful.

Most of all, Bree is just such a wonderful protagonist. It’s impossible not to root for her (pun not intended). She’s a complex character with a lot of hopes, dreams, and fears, and she’s… well, as Valec likes to call her, a powerhouse. It’s so satisfying to see Bree call out hypocrisy and to push back when others want to make her choices for her. She’s a joy to read about, and I’m very patiently awaiting the next book in the series (well, sort of patiently).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gaslighting, Murder, Racism, and Blood

Moderate: Rape, Torture, War, and Medical content

Minor: Vomit

Tagged “torture” because that is specifically what it’s called in the book, but it’s more similar to magical gaslighting, I guess. Tagged “medical content” because while most of the healing in the book is magical, the guy doing the healing is also a med student and usually describes what’s going on

bookthief's review

adventurous dark emotional 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? No

5.0

Wowowowowowowo!!!!! Soooo much just happened in this book I don’t know where to begin.

Firstly, I was super shocked that the regents turned on Bree and took her away and was constantly mesmering her and asking questions repeatedly days on end. I thought that was very cruel considering Bree is still young and she is literally their king.

I loved the scene where she finally escaped the regents with the help of her friends and that she was clever enough to figure out that the poison was in her food.

I originally thought Sel was being really sweet and kind for helping Bree even though that meant going against his oath. I was super mad at him when Valec revealed that Sel had been mesmering Bree into thinking he wasn’t giving into demonia.

Throughout the majority of the book, they had been looking for Nick since he was kidnapped by his father at the end of Legendborn. And when they finally found him he ran away. I was in shock considering I thought he would be eager to get back with the gang since they got on soo well and spent so much time and energy trying to find him.

When Bree was at Volition I thought she would master her powers and that would be that, but instead her ancestors didn’t help her and the regents found her.

When she asked Arthur to help her and to possess her I was stunned as Bree did not trust Arthur at all. I felt very betrayed when he would not give the control back to Bree and locked her up in a dream prison. 

I felt so bad for Sel at the end when he turned demonic since he spent so much time trying to help Bree and ended up folding. 

The ending was shocking. I did not expect Erebus to be the demon king or Bree to make a bargain with him.

The book ended so suddenly I was in shock. I cannot wait for the third book to come out ( I hope that’s very soon)!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Racism, Torture, and Violence