Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Name-Bearer by Natalia Hernandez

5 reviews

the_bookish_babee's review

adventurous challenging 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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Abandonment, War, and Classism

Minor: Death, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

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

blakeandbooks's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Kidnapping

Moderate: Death and Grief

Minor: Slavery and War

starrysteph's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted tense fast-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

3.75

I truly enjoyed The Name-Bearer! It was vibrant, creative, and filled with generous sprinklings of Latin American culture.  

We follow the Name-Bearer, a young girl who was selected as a baby to fulfill a critical royal role: deliver royal names from the magical Flowers of Prophecy. Her identity is stripped alongside her birth name; she knows nothing of life outside the palace. But when her first naming ceremony doesn’t go as planned - and she receives an unexpected prophecy instead, putting her in grave danger - she must journey away from all she’s known and find the true heir to the throne.

The world was so fun and colorful; I could picture every scene and character. I thought the depictions of strong & healthy friendships alongside budding romances were so lovely. There are a lot of potential romantic pairings and I would have been happy wherever we landed.

The main character’s journey with her identity - her entire sense of self and her place in the world - unfolded in a beautiful way. Her entire life is dictated by those above her; she is marginalized and powerless. I loved watching her slowly cement her personhood and discover who exactly she is outside of the expectations placed on her.

There were some clumsier elements - the editing seemed to be lacking (typos/other issues on a significant number of pages) and some plot points moved far too quickly. The story spans 10 years, and considering the large amount of characters and events, I think it could have perhaps been better served being split up into multiple books with more time to linger and develop the characters and storylines. 

Overall though, Natalia Hernandez is bringing a fresh voice to the fantasy genre and I think her ideas are spectacular. I know she will continue to strengthen as a writer and I’m excited to witness her journey.

CW: violence, bullying, sexual assault (mention), confinement, trafficking, kidnapping, child abuse, death, xenophobia, classism, grief, abandonment, war, slavery

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Abandonment, War, and Classism

abby_can_read's review against another edition

adventurous 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

📱
I enjoyed reading this. I love the worldbuilding as I find the world to be engaging and imaginative. I adore the characters, and I like the diversity. 

Since this book is the beginning of a series, there are lot of plot lines that aren't resolved that I assume will carry over to the next book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse, Violence, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Colonisation

Minor: Alcohol, War, and Classism