Reviews tagging 'Child death'

War by Laura Thalassa

29 reviews

cdmkylo's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and War

Minor: Child death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

queerloras's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

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

3.5

Oh my god, I wanted to hate this book so much more than I did. Like, some of the writing was fucking hysterical ("only a woman with a vagina the size of a crater could fit War's cock", anyone?!), and boo to the reforming of the villain (way more attractive as the Horseman, rather than the man), but. I'm now going to read the rest of the series.

Also, the comparisons to Khal Drogo are so it. That's exactly what he's like.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

madoav's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

Okay, I liked the premise of this book a bit better than Pestilence, and I didn't think Pestilence was bad! I just found the start to War and Miriam's relationship a bit more easy to grasp than the start of Pestilence and Sara's. I enjoyed this book a lot! I got really annoyed at both Miriam and War at many points in the book, but I especially liked how the two were able to make up, and how War himself actually wanted to make meaningful change. I thought Miriam was a bit needlessly stupid towards the end of the book (the man could heal himself for crying out loud), but I'm glad they got their happy ending. I'm excited to start the third book.  

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Pregnancy, and War

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

devilbunny6's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, and War

Moderate: Child death, Rape, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

xangemtheelibrarian's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

Yep yep yep. A sequel that lives up to book 1. It's been a bit since I'd read Pestilence, so I forgot about that delicious tension woven into these stories but I LIVE FOR IT. Break the characters' hearts. I adore it. 

A minor little spoiler though, that deus ex machina War pulled at the very end pulled me out of the story, but I am willing to forgive it for the ending we got. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

kirahaycock21's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-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

4.25

I thought there was a little too much back and forth on and off again between the main characters. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, and War

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Animal death and Death of parent

mattiedancer's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

3.75

Writing: 3.25⭐️/5 

Alright, so the writing is serviceable. I liked it in the sense that it didn’t get in the way. I did feel like the pacing was a bit off for this one. I noticed a lot more exposition starting to creep in. It felt a bit less polished. Overall, though, it stood out less than her first book in this series (Pestilence) strictly because it felt a bit like a carbon copy in certain sections.

Characters: 3.5⭐️/5

Above I said that the writing felt a bit too familiar. So did the characters. Now, War is completely different than Pestilence. Miriam feels a little too similar to Sara. As the novel picked up, she definitely struck out on her own, gaining her own sense of self. However, by then the similarities were embedded into my brain too much, and it became harder to notice their differences. I did appreciate getting a few more side characters in this one as well, even if some of them lacked a bit of depth.

Plot: 3.75⭐️/5 

The plot is fun – and, you guessed it, overall very similar to Pestilence. All in all, I did enjoy the differences, loving how Miriam pushed against her fate as War’s wife. I loved how he, in his differences from Pestilence, forced her to move in different directions. I will say the end felt a bit too pulled out. Everything felt so over, and for everyone to come back to kill War just felt a bit contrived, as though Thalassa was trying too hard to make the ending similar to Pestilence.

Who Should Read This Book? 

• Fans of ACOTAR and dystopian societies
• Someone looking for a romance with an intriguing plot
• Those who like fantasy/apocalyptic novels that centre on romance
• Readers who like (or don’t mind) a bit of spice, but not just spice
• Those who liked and loved the first book (but maybe take a break between so it’s not too fresh)

Content Warnings? 

Death, murder, murder, sexual content, physical abuse, emotional abuse, kidnapping, fire, fire injury, gore, blood, injury, injury detail, gun violence, violence, animal death, torture, grief, body horror, sexual harassment, sexual assault, war, 

Post-Reading Rating:  3⭐️/5

I didn’t love how the ending came about. Very contrived and pushed towards predictability, when it didn’t have to be.

Final Rating: 3.5⭐️/5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

twinklepuff's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

katbenimble's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

2.0

The hero was better in this one, but the FMC was AN IDIOT.  

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

emmathebookworm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

This was definitely better than the first book. However, I felt like something was missing. I would’ve liked to see more of War’s POV,  which could’ve really captured his moral struggles throughout the story. It’s a bit slow at times and the end was quite fast, but that doesn’t make the book much less enjoyable.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Vomit, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol