Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne

19 reviews

phaedruus's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

vvabecca's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

singalana's review

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Maybe I read this book at a bad time, but getting through it felt like a chore. It’s a shame because it’s in no way a bad book!

The Shadow of the Gods is the first instalment in a Norse mythology-inspired fantasy series by John Gwynne. This is not his first series, but I haven’t read this previous work. I’d classify this book as grimdark - if you’re a fan of epic battles, grisly deaths and vengeance-fueled characters, this book might be for you. 

In this fantasy world, the gods have killed each other in a fearsome battle and nearly destroyed the world in the process. Those with the gods’ blood in their veins are hunted and enslaved. We follow three main characters; Orka, Varg, and Elvar, who all have their quests and secrets. 

Two out of the three main characters are women: Orka, who lives in the wilderness with her family, and Elvar, who is a member of a mercenary group called the Battle-Grim. Varg is trying to find out what happened to his sister. All the characters are interesting, and I found myself caring for them, especially Varg and Orka.

The world is rich and interesting, and it’s revealed bit by bit. I enjoyed the writing in every other aspect except one: the author loved to use the word “thought-cage”, which in this instance refers to the thinking mind. The word appeared in almost every chapter, and every time, it managed to jolt me out of the story. 

I had no idea what I was getting into when I started reading this book: the blurb is absolutely useless and tells nothing about the book. If I had seen this in a bookstore, I would not have bought it based on that. Alas, I got it as a gift, so here we are. Perhaps the lack of a blurb hurt my reading experience because I had no idea where we were headed with the story. Since this is a series, the first book was pretty much a set p for the series. Even though a lot happened, I felt the book really started to intrigue me only in the last third or so. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Slavery, Kidnapping, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Sexual content, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

lausiusplau's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

violinknitter's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

So much viscera and fighting. So much. Also, despite the fighting, the main plot moves very slowly. I didn’t mind, since I was enjoying being immersed in the world (whenever I wasn’t having to skim gory fights), but it didn’t really do much until the last part of the book. And it’s not a standalone. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

voidthearea's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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: Body horror, Death, Gore, Self harm, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and War

siomhaw's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Excrement

hobbitslibrary's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative 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: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

meowster18's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was a journey that I was willing to go on from page one. This was beautifully written. Entirely immersive. I felt everything from the love of Thorkiel to war of the Battle-Grime and Bloodsworn, To Orka’s pain and rage, and lastly Varg’s and Elvar journey to discovery and Battle-Fame. A must read. The ending had me gasping and yelling “no f-ing way!”. Can’t wait to sink my teeth into the next book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and War

Please look up trigger warnings for this book. It is very gorey

hiddeninfantasy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail