Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Name-Bearer by Natalia Hernandez

6 reviews

nrchambers's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

3.75

This didn't wow me but it did interest me and tug on some of my emotions. I'll be reading the next book for sure as most of my enjoyment from this first installment came from things to come (ie the setting up of character relationships, subplots, etc)  

It was a little rough specifically because of the in-world hatred of 'others' (reading this when multiple genocides are ongoing in Gaza, Sudan, Congo, etc). So I'm hoping a lot of the characters do some personal growth in book 2. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and War

Minor: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, and Trafficking

mandareads222's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Infidelity, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Animal cruelty, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Excrement, and Vomit

ladymickbeth's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.0

Plot: 4.5/5
World building: 4/5
Characters: 4.5/5
Writing: 3.75/5 
Grammar/editing: 2/5

In general, I enjoyed this book and the unique premise. Unfortunately, I don’t think this book was edited at all. There was some expositional elements repeated when they didn’t need to be, and there were a ridiculous amount of typos and missing or incorrect punctuation marks. There were also quite a few run-on sentences. The obvious lack of editing took me out of the story often.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Slavery, Violence, and Trafficking

Minor: Bullying, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

nick_w's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful inspiring relaxing fast-paced

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

2.0

Not very strong writing and some consistency issues. Characters aren’t well developed, and the plot moves too quickly. Entire battles or challenges are overcome in a few paragraphs with little detail or description, which doesn’t leave me aching to get to the next page. Also seems like a LOT of plot points are being set up for book 2. The vignette chapters are only a page or two long and don’t add to the story, they seem to be simulating mystery, but it falls flat. 

I do love the Latin culture, LGBTQ+ teasers, and where some of the plot lines seem to be going, and I’m looking forward to finishing the series and seeing the resolution. Just a bit below my reading level and the amount of detail I prefer in a book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Racism, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

searobin's review

adventurous hopeful slow-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

4.0

I absolutely LOVED this book, but it does have its issues, so rating it is a bit hard. The two main things are that it ends up feeling like one long prologue, and that the writing feels like YA but some of the violence are detailed to a degree that doesn't suit YA. I really loved the characters, I liked getting to know the friends and some  and the travelling companions so well, but it's a bit weird for an adventure book; it felt much more "slices of life" than adventure. I'm also curious about how our MC got so much education, but had so little awareness of how her situation was developing on the outside. It felt like she just ignored/didn't learn anything it for those 10 years. 

All in all, I loved how immersed we were in the story, but it is unusual for the genre.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

wy_woman's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, and Murder