Reviews with content warning for Kidnapping - Death

Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

kat1105's review

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dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.5

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bangiebangs's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Oh this book.

So, first off: almost perfect, and the "almost" here is some iffy pacing mainly (the story of Death and Lazarus felt a little off in the first half, but recovered for the second).

This book gives all our favorite tropes (dark romance, enemies to lovers, fated mates, forced proximity, and an eons-old virgin MMC - love those!), and once more the journey is the destination.
That said, I think the middle is a bit eh. Death and Lazarus are mainly fucking (which, 3/5 for spice, that was really, really well written and better than in previous books imo), but Death's motivation to never relent and keep killing is "it's my job", and we don't get a satisfying reason. If the horsemen are here to punish humanity in ways we have used to kill each other, then what is the point of Death just dropping entire cities without even entering them sometimes?

Spoiler

There is one scene where he explains that if God is everything, she (and it's a she in this story) is constantly being hurt by humans destroying the world, and if humans are only part of a much bigger whole, then they are like a festering sore that needs to be cut out for the whole to heal. That makes sense in principle, but even if humans are only a part of creation and seen as part of a much bigger whole, humanity's ability for redemption is portrayed much better on the examples of Pestilence, War, or even Famine.. but doesn't work for Death.

I didn't particularly like the epilogue (it gave Vampire Diaries final scen), but the ending itself is satisfying and honestly, I'd been wondering how the author would wrap up all the storylines that dragged over from previous books (yes, we see Victor/Pestilence, War, and Famine again). So that was surprisingly well done.

So, whole series review: LOVE the series, and my favorite book is still Pestilence, I think? Followed by War. I might re-read those first two, but maybe not the second two? Not entirely sure. Maybe reading them not in one go but as palate cleansers between other books makes more sense.

Wholly recommend this if you're looking for a series with well-trodden tropes where you still get surprised sometimes, especially if you relish some frustration with the characters that isn't based on miscommunication for once. Nice levels of spice throughout, mostly on a slow - medium burn.

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tiana_king's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

5.0

This was by far my favorite love story of the series. It was nice to see some old faces and get to know the new ones. Not all of the questions are answered but everything was still wrapped up nicely.

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