Reviews tagging 'Child death'

I cavalieri dell'Apocalisse: Guerra by Laura Thalassa

29 reviews

nerdishreader's review against another edition

adventurous funny sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

Yea so no. This left a bitter taste in my mouth, especially given everything Palestinian people have been going through for decades. Like girl you could've at least pretended to give some semblance of a flying fuck about Palestinian people and write a heartfelt dedication to them. And why do I feel like if I research this author all I'd find is problematic shit.

The plot was promising but fell short with the whole push and pull that happened for over 60% of the book. Though i liked the fact that War remained headstrong in his decision and "cause" (which was actually pointless and not explained well but I digress). The pacing was fine until the

pregnancy

which, the trope was fine but everything was rushed and boring from then. And I hated the whole "you must surrender to me" bit because hello???

AND OH MY GOSHHH THE WRITING. There were multiple moments where I considered DNFing because of the cringe. I'm very picky with writing and how things are depicted and this just wasn't it. 

"Holy balls!" "Holy fucking balls!" the constant use of "BOOM" to signify the detonation of bombs. Are you a child? Where's the creativity?

And that ending like girl if you knew he was incapable of dying why in the flying fuck would you risk the lives of you and your child to "save" him. HE WAS FINE. And spoiler alert! She killed them both. He had to bargain with his brother to bring them back to life.

And it's hinted throughout the book that she misses her family and she hoped that her mother and sister were at least alive- they were separated while trying to flee and her father was killed when the first horseman showed up. 

War even stated that he'd like to help her find her family if in fact they were alive. So to jump years into the future when she, War and their daughter randomly show up on her mom's doorstep is..... lazy? boring? disappointing? a choice? especially when loss of family is a major theme in this book. 

And don't even get me started on that reunion. Like this man was literally part of the cause of the Genocide of your people, caused you to be separated from your daughter for years, your husband was killed and you just accepted him into family within 5 minutes of meeting him? LAZY WRITING.

This should've all happened over the span of at least 5 chapters not 5 paragraphs (an exaggeration).

Overall - ★★

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Genocide, Gore, Sexual assault, Violence, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and War

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

booklvrkat's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Preferred this one over the first book. War was intense, throughout the story, although his love story was much more redeeming in my mind. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and War

chelbelle122's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

3.75

If we are ranking Horseman Husband's it's a close call so far

1. Pestilence 
2. War

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

bunnybaby_hop04's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: Confinement, Sexism, Xenophobia, and Abandonment

kayceeisbookish's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and War

spatterson7's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Gun violence, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

akleverreader's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

kemikorosu's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Child death and War

bedtimesandbooks's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Gun violence, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape

smuttymcbookface's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Although I loved a lot of this, I found it less palatable that Pestilence because Miriam felt too stupid to live a lot of the time (

particularly at the end, where she kills herself to prevent him any pain he might have whilst he removes himself from the trap

).

Beyond that though, I loved the humanisation of everyone: War's transformation felt gradual and believable; the baddies (War's men) had sweetness and bitterness too; and Zara felt nuanced and realistic. I also loved that there was a different setting for this (like there will be in Famine), and how the past conflicts of those areas added to War's power.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and War

Moderate: Rape and Pregnancy

Minor: Child death