Reviews tagging 'Death'

A Heart So Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer

22 reviews

jackiepreston's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Torture, Death of parent, and Death

purplehulk713's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

I liked this book better than the first one, which is unusual because the first book had more magic, and I never really liked Grey in my first encounters with him because I thought he was too stubborn in his loyalty. But that was something that was played upon in this novel—both how and why he acts in that way—which I thought was far more interesting than his initial portrayal, especially since we get to hear his voice as a primary narrator in this book. I loved Lia Mara, and basically every other new important character that was introduced in this installment—Tycho and Iisak are great. Tycho is cute and endearing, and Iisak is funny, dry, and mysterious. But Lia Mara is so   so determined yet so insecure

(and her toxic relationship with her mother Karis Luran brings out a lot of strong Amity Blight vibes)

and from the first chapters that we meet her and hear her views of her mother and sister, Nolla Verin, it’s clearly evident how passionate she is but also so vulnerable and apprehensive. Her role in the climax is epic! She and Grey are excellent foils for each other. I was so impressed by Brigid Kemmerer’s world-building, especially as the characters crossed into Syhl Shallow and they explained things like their matrilineal line of succession, but also the poignancy of the issues she’s depicting with these characters like the best way to achieve peace between two countries, or even mutual respect and civility within one’s own country. Brigid Kemmerer is herself a magesmith for how deftly she is both able to portray these issues as well develop realistic characters to grapple and grow with them. The only reason I rated this book below five stars was that it didn’t have as much magic as I craved, though I cannot remember enjoying a book that discussed diplomacy so much this much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Alcohol, Blood, Emotional abuse, Violence, Medical content, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship

lucia_without_j's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Torture, and Violence

qrschulte's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I think I liked this one more than the last one. And again, I called the big reveals. 

Things I liked:
- GREY!!!
- Iisak. More of him please
- Jake‘s redemption. 
- The romance actually made sense and had some chemistry and a bit of steam. 

Things I didn’t like:
- The Lia Mara narrator made the girls sound waaaay younger than they were supposed to be. She also was a bit melodramatic, either with a laugh in her voice or like a swoon teen, which was a little much for my tastes. 
- The torture
- The 180 degree flip of characterizations of Harper and Rhen, which I guess is only slightly explained. Especially after Rhen’s character growth in the last book. And Harper being okay with Rhen’s behavior after giving her brother (warranted) shit in the first book? Makes no sense. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Blood, Body shaming, Murder, Violence, War, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Torture

Moderate: Grief, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Colonisation, Medical content, Abandonment, and Vomit

Minor: Animal death

taryn_g'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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Murder, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

Moderate: Confinement

Minor: Chronic illness

annorabrady's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

4.5

I loved the romance in this book better than it's predecessor, however the actions of Rhen and the inactions of Harper were frustrating. Especially knowing what we know of Harper from the first book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

adeena23's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Death

Minor: Racism and Homophobia

bzliz's review against another edition

adventurous reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

This book flirts a little too closely to Game of Thrones territory for me at times, with brutal consequences for kindness or naïveté. 

In developing Grey’s character, I feel like Harper’s character dulled greatly.

I find it really hard to believe that she would want to stay with Rhen when she is aware of his brutal actions against his subjects, despite not knowing that Lilith is still alive and doing something to manipulate his actions. Her family suffered trauma caused by her father’s actions and saw her brother turned into a puppet forced to threaten and possibly commit violent acts against people. It doesn’t make sense that she would stand by Rhen’s side as he- from her point of view- tries to rally his people by allowing some to be brutalized or murdered because he’s afraid of magic.

Lia Mara is the kind of protagonist I can’t help but like- she’s kind, clever and pragmatic despite her upbringing. Her mother makes too perfect a villain. It’s borderline offensive how one dimensional she is. 

Despite it all, I did enjoy this and it was worth the couple hours I spent reading it and I care just enough to read the next one also. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Violence, and Emotional abuse

scarlett_f's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore

Moderate: Alcohol and Death

Minor: Confinement

LGBTq, cerebral palsy

littletiramisu's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Blood, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Toxic friendship, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Physical abuse

Minor: Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault