Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon

8 reviews

zoiejanelle's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

I WISH I COULD GIVE THIS BOOK TEN STARS. i dare say it was even better than The Priory of the Orange Tree, but only because it had such a fantastic book as a foundation. 
A Day Of Fallen Night built upon the lush and brilliant world of Priory and expanded upon the mythos and magic i fell in love with in Priory. the story was much faster in this book, with multiple viscerally real and flawed storytellers that made me fall in love time and time again. the plot was so deep, so intricately woven, and there was not a single point (past page 100) where i felt comfortable putting the book down for too long. 
although the audience somewhat knew the story that the book would tell, the devil is truly in the details. the characters and their arcs truly made this book worth reading and enriched the lore of the world tenfold. getting to know the players in the folklore intimately was just magical… i will never read Priory the same way. 
also… the romance in this book was NEXT LEVEL. i did not think Samantha Shannon could top Ead and Sabran, but i was very, very wrong. the two main romances in this story were sapphic, which i loved, and all mentioned partnerships were extremely three-dimensional and believable. i won’t put spoilers here, but the enemies to lovers was SERVING in this book and i wept MULTIPLE TIMES over one particular couple. and over other things as well.
this book simultaneously re-opened and healed some aching wounds inside me—wounds surrounding womanhood, motherhood, family, religion, love, duty, and identity. i was a complete sniveling mess for the last ~150 pages of the book, but i wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. 
Samantha Shannon has done it again. A Day Of Fallen Night is truly a masterpiece. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Grief, Body horror, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Pandemic/Epidemic, Death, Violence, Death of parent, Sexual content, War, Infidelity, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Body horror, Alcohol, Xenophobia, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, and Child death

Minor: Infertility, Adult/minor relationship, and Abortion

bergha1998's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.25

I liked most of the plot lines in this one. It’s helpful that all except one are POVs of women. It’s just a long book, in a way that makes it feel like a long book. I think a more thorough editing could have made this book much more enjoyable. 

Multi-POV, LGBTQIA+, Romance Subplots, 1 🔥

“I bid you mind my heart. I leave half of it in your keeping.”

“Your pain is not my pain, but I know its shape. I am sorry for it.“

“‘Because you would not believe until you saw.’ ‘Is that so terrible?’”

“He saw danger in difference… Some people need to call others evil, so they can seem pure and righteous in comparison, or to purge contempt they hold in secret for themselves.“

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Grief, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, War, Death of parent, Infidelity, Torture, Violence, Animal death, and Blood

eleanora's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Pregnancy, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment, War, Religious bigotry, Medical content, and Infidelity

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Alcohol

brynalexa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad 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? No

5.0

I didn’t know a book SO long could be SO fast-paced. I was in love with the characters from the start and got my heart broken and put back together countless times. I love the depth of the history in names of people/places and how the author demonstrates changes in people, places, culture, and languages over time.  I love a book with gay characters in which the trauma has nothing to do with their sexuality. The interview at the end of the audiobook was definitely with the listen. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Suicide, Pandemic/Epidemic, Blood, War, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Cannibalism and Infertility

gracewiley's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Death

Moderate: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Animal death, and Body horror

Minor: Confinement, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Child death, Sexual content, Medical content, and Xenophobia

donatio's review

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.75

I had high expectations for this book after Priory and it did not disappoint.
The characters and the world were well-fleshed-out, I came to care about them deeply. There were no plot holes and it set up Priory nicely. 
The writing was beautiful, I only found that it was quite slow for me but towards the end it got better. 
Representation of everyone (gender-equality, POC, LGBTQ, etc.) was there, just like it ought to be. 
I loved the themes, motherhood, religion and duty, and how they were explored. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, War, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual content

Moderate: Animal death and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Cancer, Alcohol, Drug use, Kidnapping, and Miscarriage

alexalily's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Pregnancy, Blood, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Grief, Religious bigotry, Confinement, War, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Terminal illness, Animal death, Child death, Body horror, Classism, Medical content, and Sexual content

Minor: Alcohol, Cancer, Chronic illness, Vomit, Suicide, Cannibalism, Infidelity, and Kidnapping

careinthelibrary's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Complex and epic, stretching across so much geography and individual experiences, this is a worthy follow-up to <i>The Priory of the Orange Tree</i>. It manages to feel familiar to fans of the series without feeling like it's relying on the success of the first one to succeed itself. It stands on its own feet and feels independent but welcoming to returning fans.

This is more politically intricate than the previous tome from Samantha Shannon. I didn't personally prefer this much politics in my fantasy, but I know lots of people who enjoy political machinations and intrigue in their high fantasy so I'm sure it'll be popular for that reason. There's a lot more time spent discussing various kingdoms' relationships with one another and marriage features a lot more in this (at least to my memory of what <i>Priory</i> was like). But don't fret, there's also plenty of action and darkness.

The dragon content doesn't disappoint. It feels like it's scraped from the depths of a volcano with how intimidating and ancient they feel. We get lots of conflict with dragons in this which is satisfying because <i>Priory</i> never felt like quite enough. Samantha Shannon is generous with the drama in this book.

Women and women's love are at the core of this novel. Romantic love, parental love, sisterly love. This puts a spotlight on these kinds of relationships and over the course of the novel, they grow and change. They betray one another, they uplift one another, they love each other, they defend each other. It's great. There were some characters I felt more attached to and whose plotlines entertained me more while others were lesser favoured. Glorian was my favourite but I liked aspects of all them.

All in all, I don't think this will disappoint fans. Depending on your personal preferences, you may like this a little more or a little less than the previous, but most importantly, it's its own story with a fresh take on the world. It doesn't live in the shadow of the predecessor but right alongside that legend.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Grief, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Death, Pregnancy, Violence, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, War, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, and Infidelity

Minor: Alcohol

Forced pregnancy, young pregnancy