Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

310 reviews

babyblueming's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

2.75

The only reason I didn't give this book a lower rating was that it redeemed itself in the last quarter as much as it could've. It almost seemed like the ending was written first and the rest of the book was just an afterthought. The book is written similarly to those fanfictions I used to read on AO3 when I was 14 and that's not really a compliment. Most of the writing is telling not showing and a lot of the scenes seem to be written just to get the word count up. I don't need to be told every chapter that the character woke up and got dressed. I expected much more than what I got, as the first 3/4 of the book were just the main character getting dragged around by others, complaining and whining about her situation and acting like she's in highschool. Mean girls, slut shaming, pick me behavior, whining, getting magically prettier even though she always thought she was ugly, complaining that she's "too skinny" etc. I spent most of my reading experience being super annoyed with her pov. Luckily her character seems to develop past that at least a bit towards the end. The romance seems entirely unnecessary as well. I hope the other books get better. 

I wondered why the hell would an ancient magician that looks 20 fall in love with a teenager but LUCKILY he was just manipulating her and was basically a villain the whole time. I'm glad about that and I hope the whole romance between Alina and Darkling doesn't continue in the other books. The romance scenes between them made me uncomfortable and I gagged when they kissed cuz it was so instaromance and there was basically no reason they'd be attracted to each other except their powers and that the Darkling's hot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, and Sexual content

Moderate: Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Sexual harassment

jeggert10's review against another edition

adventurous emotional relaxing fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Sexism, Blood, Medical content, Gaslighting, and Classism

Minor: Body shaming, Gore, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

immovabletype's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

I'm not going to give this a star rating because the show loomed too heavily over my reading experience for me to give a fair rating. there are a few things I do prefer about the book (Alina's characterization being the biggest one) but overall the Netflix show is a great improvement.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Violence, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Body shaming and Rape

nonotyoshi's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail

amandam71's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Alcohol

annahnoyes's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? N/A

4.5

I really enjoyed this book. If I had to explain it by combining other things, I'd list the following: Harry Potters’ “orphan is the chosen one” and “must go to fancy place to learn more about magic.” Game of Thrones super cold areas and crazy wall/barricade with scary creatures. The bougie people in the capital of the Hunger Games. A main character somewhat reminiscent Of Anne of Green Gables. Oh and throw in a dash of Russian and royal courts. That's the vibe here. 

The magical system with it's connection to science and nature, is super fun. Alina is a great FMC and while I’ve seen a lot of people say that they dislike her, I really liked her! She's independent and always speaks her mind. I appreciated that there were many times during this read that I didn't know what would happen in the next 50 pages. Not too slow paced, but not too fast either, the world building was easy to get into. This is a solid start in a YA Fantasy world. Looking forward to reading Siege and Storm!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death

greylagoon's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

lee_s's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

Moderate: Animal death, Emotional abuse, and Violence

Minor: Sexual assault

rainbowspacewitch's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful medium-paced

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

3.75

Really enjoyed this book - it was a very quick read for me as I kept turning page after page. I started and finished the book today. Something in me isn't quite willing to give it 4 stars though. There were some passages in the book that felt quite juvenile in the way that they focused on friendships and looks and going to the big dance. I suppose they are young adult books, but that doesn't mean I have to like it! I guess I was disappointed that even in a fantasy novel the standard teenage tropes make an appearance. Saying that though, I can't wait to read the next one!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death and Emotional abuse

uselesspirateraven's review against another edition

adventurous informative lighthearted relaxing sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, and War

Minor: Body shaming, Blood, and Vomit