Reviews tagging 'War'

Ledge by Stacey McEwan

9 reviews

ashleynp24's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

I really enjoyed this book. I felt the action moved along the plot well, and the characters are fun. The romance is a big  factor in the book as well, so watching that develop was expected but still a fun read.

I loved seeing a strong woman as the protagonist and how her relationships evolved due to her nature. A reason I did give it a 4 and not higher was I wish the book was told in her POV, not a 3rd person POV. I feel if it was from hers, we’d get to know a bit more about her relationship with Ryon, and her thoughts regarding her experiences more. I do enjoy their relationship and the development of it, but I think it could be a deeper connection between them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Grief, Violence, War, Classism, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Slavery, Suicide, and Torture

kat1105's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Kidnapping, Animal death, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Confinement, Death, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Blood, Classism, War, Alcohol, Body horror, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, and Sexual violence

meat_muffin's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.75

I loved this. Absolutely loved it. Blasted through, sad it’s over, am D Y I N G that the next one won’t be out for months - and on that cliffhanger?! How very dare (but I still adore you, Stacey!)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Racism, Classism, Slavery, and Colonisation

Moderate: Gaslighting, Death, War, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Death of parent, and Cursing

Minor: Sexual harassment, Confinement, and Alcohol

shannanigans92's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Slavery, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Death of parent, Death, Suicide, and Abandonment

Moderate: Sexual content, Alcohol, Blood, and Cursing

Minor: Sexual harassment and Child death

sammiesavors's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Murder, Suicide, and War

amre23'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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gore, Violence, Slavery, Blood, Kidnapping, and Death

Moderate: Sexual content, Grief, Genocide, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Racism

Minor: Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Child death, Death of parent, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Torture, and Classism

soniajoy98's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Sexual violence, Violence, War, Murder, Racism, Sexual assault, Cursing, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Child abuse, Classism, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide

Minor: Cannibalism, Torture, Vomit, Pregnancy, and Physical abuse

magiquek8ball's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book took me longer to finish than I expected because I had to keep taking breaks. I loved and felt so there with the characters, that whenever something happened I needed to literally walk away and come back.

Based wholly on those breaks and when in the book I needed to take them, I can say that this book is perfectly paced and the ebbs and flows of the plot are as soothing and intoxicating as the magic in the pool of Iskra. I’ve never wanted to pick back up a book so soon after finishing it.

One of my favorite things about this book (aside from the characters) is the language used both in and out of dialogue. When the characters are talking to each other, not only does their individual personality come through but it really feels like a fantasy book in the cadence of their speech. I was constantly aware that I was witnessing something magical and of-another-world. Despite the true, heartwarmingly, human moments in the book, there was nothing pedestrian about it because of the words the author used in those moments.

Throughout this book, I got a sense that Stacey McEwan was sharing her wishes for the world. Some were small and simple like a man with huge hands who loves a woman with a sharp wit and

being able to shove entitled men into gaping holes in the earth

. Others were huge; the type of hopes we have but rarely know how to chase. Things like making the world “A Better Place” where people are not forced to go without freedom and comfort so that others may benefit, bluntness is welcome so long as it’s used without judgment, and differences are used as strengths to join forces against those with their heels on the backs of others. I loved being in a world where these wishes became plans and actions and I thank the author for sharing it with me.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, War, Violence, and Blood

Minor: Classism, Racism, Confinement, and Sexual harassment

As a fantasy book, the -isms that are mentioned act more as a metaphor for ones that exist in our world. I found them powerful and thoughtfully done, but they are there.

cover2covertx's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

This book was definitely a roller coaster for me and I really enjoyed it! The beginning was very dark and heavy but with the pacing being done so well, the author didn’t just have you sit there in the gloom and did a good job of giving you an awesome character to root for in Dawsyn. The world building was wonderful and gave you a really interesting and unique premise that you can understand well without info dumping which is a huge plus in fantasy (in my opinion). 

The relationship between the two main characters goes from enemies to lovers but not in a super predictable way. I really enjoyed the pacing of their relationship too! It was very well done and the author threw in some good twists and conflict for their story without anything being too predictable. Their banter also was PERFECT. ❤️ 

I appreciated the trigger and content warnings because there were definitely some darker moments to the plot that I’m grateful for the heads up for.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book- until the ending. I’m excited for the very big cliffhanger  because that means a sequel (hopefully) is coming. However, after everything that happened in the story, there’s a huge moment in the last few pages that took this read for me personally from a solid five stars to four.

 

Thanks to NetGalley and Angry Robot for this ARC to review.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Suicide, Child death, and War

Minor: Sexual violence and Sexual assault