Reviews tagging 'Death'

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

29 reviews

poetsofsweetpea's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

2.5

The story premise is good but it almost reads like a rough draft.  We get told rather than shown what happens.  The narration was also flat and the strange music at the end of every chapter break pulls you out of the story and at times seems to mock the story itself.  if you are interested in this series,  I hear there is a revision coming.  Listen to that one instead.  its probably better done and the story itself isn't bad. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Murder, and War

kassidyreads'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, and Violence

stephaniemcuervo's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, and Murder

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, and Outing

Minor: Addiction and Suicidal thoughts

jgalla'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

jenna36'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

4.25

I really liked this book! The beginning up to the middle was very nearly perfect in my opinion, well on the way to a five star read. I did feel that the plot got a bit thin in a few places after the middle of the book. It was not really enough to detract from my enjoyment, but it was enough that I didn't feel like I could justify rating it 5 stars.

I like that there was not a lot of BSing around with the romantic relationship, and there was good communication between Yelena and Valek, which YA often lacks. I feel like this straddles the line of older YA/Adult in the serious topics that it addresses. I'm a little creeped out by the transphobic thoughts Yelena had about the commander, but I think based on the end of the book that she is willing to learn. I am cautiously optimistic that the author herself is not transphobic, but I'm retaining a little suspicion. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Transphobia and Violence

Minor: Deadnaming, Self harm, and Sexual harassment

serendipity421's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

sienna1508's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

theverysleepygirl's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

3.5

Thoughts on this one are long and complicated. I’ll get to writing a review eventually.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse

Moderate: Death

aseel_reads's review against another edition

dark medium-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

2.0

this had so much potential and it just flopped so bad. the magic system was quite vague and i don't see the point of its addition. the story was quite predictable as well. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Stalking, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

lisa_m's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Don't get me wrong, this was a good book. I might even say it was a great one but it was just nothing special. I really wish I would have enjoyed it more. This could have been a five star read but something was missing. I liked the writing, loved the characters, loved the plot and magic system. My only real concern was that the romance felt rushed and underdeveloped. Since the rest was good I don't really mind though.

I think the reason I didn't like it as much as I could have is how much YA Fantasy I have already read. At some point it just starts to become repetitive. I really hope that is not true though because I love YA Fantasy. :( If I read this book 2 years ago I would have probably liked it more.

Another concern I had was that certain serious topics where discussed quite graphically which I don't like and which always makes me uncomfortable. It was used to establish Yelenas character and her past trauma but still I wished it had been less graphic.

Nonetheless I will definitely be reading the following books of the series. I also hope Ari and Janco will be in the next booka as well since they were my favourite characters. (Btw. I thought their friendship could have been established better. They basically went from not knowing Yelena to wanting to die for her which felt very rushed.) I guess I just wished it was longer but since it is the first book of a series that's not really a big issue.

Edit: One more thing. I didn't expect the romance to be Between thlse two people for two reasons. 1. it was underdeveloped and 2. he is 33 and she is 19!! I didn't even realise it that much while reading the book but at first I did think he was going to be a sort of mentor/father figure. When they started hinting at a romance I aged him down in my mind but now that I finished the book I looked it up and he really is 33! Idk what to think about that tbh

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail