Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley

24 reviews

tamara_joy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Gun violence, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

shmandy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

"...in my head, you're so pristine. I just wanted to not get anything on you." // "I think you're the same thing in three different lights."

If anyone needs I will be screaming about Nataha Pulley from the top of a lighthouse. This was action fuelled and jam packed with plot while also being character driven and slow to the point of the anticipation crawling in so carefully you didn't realize how invested you were in everyone until their lives were in mortal peril ( dozens of times).

Every character - even the short lived ones- are so well written that you can't help but immediately understand and feel for them.

I would lay my life on the line for Kite. Everyone needs a hug and about 900 days of rest.

The writing - in particular the way she writes the characters physically existing beside each other is so well done. I highly suggest going in with no understanding of what's going on and being okay with being confused for a bit - it's well worth it.

My first Natasha Pulley book and absolutely not my last - as soon as the mail arrives.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Blood, and War

spacebornfew's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

There's something about Natasha Pulley's books that just breaks me every time. They contain these moments that elicit this indescribable feeling of safety and warmth and belonging that curls up in my gut and sits there for days afterwards. Those moments intersperse with heartbreak and remorse and questions about what makes us who we are... I'm going to have a hell of a hangover from this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Self harm, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, and Blood

Minor: Xenophobia

breadwitchery's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious 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: Death, Gun violence, Violence, and War

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Slavery, Xenophobia, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Cursing, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide, and Alcohol

imrereads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Slavery, and War

cocacolor's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.5

A brisk, clever time-traveling, alternate-dimension-hopping adventure. The characters are immediately likeable and memorable, although they don't have much interiority;

even after Joe/Jem regains all his memories, it's difficult to place his relationship with Kite in the context of his marriages to Alice / Madeleine, and what Agatha and Jem also felt for each other is a mystery

. Pulley's style is delightful, lyrical and lucid at the same time. It feels strange to be rooting for the British Navy, here buckling under French colonialism; on the one hand, a keen attention to historical detail is counterbalanced by the narrow scope of telling a story of British soldiers fighting French occupation with barely a mention of Britain's own empire. I'm still discontented with the way some threads are tied up:

When does Kite reckon with the consequences of killing a teenage boy? A freak change killing off Toby and Alice and dropping children into Kite and Joe's laps seems like a cop-out way to give them a nuclear family.

But overall, a thrilling tale with immediate, powerful characters that turns on the tropes of amnesia and the horrors of war.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Violence, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Suicide, Blood, Murder, and Classism

Minor: Genocide and Alcohol

On rape:

though the narrative seems to acknowledge that the main character is forced into sex by his wife, it stops short of condemning her.

On racism:

The aforementioned wife is one of the only Black characters in the novel, and also killed off in order to give the white and white-passing main couple her children.

ruthjenkins's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gun violence, and War

Moderate: Rape and Violence

kerrymur's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, and Slavery

anxiousnachos's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I don’t think I have the words for this review. This was absolutely exquisite, this *destroyed* me. It’s one of the most beautiful love stories I’ve ever read, I just immediately want to reread. The moment everything kind of clicks together and you realise what happened is soul shattering. It was stunning. How can your heart not break into a million pieces at this quote:

“You’re my family! You were family before any of them. I’ve missed you even when I didn’t remember you. Everything I’ve done since losing you has been about getting back to you.”

Please excuse me whilst I go scream.

Content warnings: slavery, graphic depictions of war, graphic depictions of blood/gore, epilepsy, amnesia, murder, violence, child death, burn injury, lashing injury, physical abuse, imprisonment, rape

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Rape, and Slavery

btrz7's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail