Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Das Mädchen und der Winterkönig by Katherine Arden

17 reviews

fatherprozac's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious 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

4.0

This was kind of a slog to get through from the beginning to middle, but once it started picking up toward the end I was hooked into the series once again so I will continue to the final book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

maeverose's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This one is equally as good as the first book to me, maybe even better. I liked it for all the same reasons I liked the first book; atmosphere, setting, writing, realistic characters, the interweaving of the folklore into the story, plus it has one of my favorite tropes (female character has to disguise herself as a man), and Vasya actually leaves her home to explore different towns/cities, including Moscow, and gets to be a badass (albeit pretty naive at times, but what do you expect from someone who's never left her very small town in the middle of nowhere until now?). I really grew to like Sasha in this book, despite him being a bit of an idiot sometimes

(like why are you focused on your sister 'sinning' by dressing as a man when she just saved several kids LIVES?)

The main antagonist was very predictable, not sure if he was supposed to be or not... but I didn't feel it took away from my enjoyment of the story at all.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Violence, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: War

stillbirth

pvbobrien's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Sexual assault, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Slavery, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

kassielovestoread's review against another edition

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

I'm having a hard time putting together a worthy review of this book. Truly, it was a fantastic book and doesn't fall at all under the middle book syndrome. There's just so many things that I loved about the first book that the second takes under its wing and expands it. To name a few...

Vasya, first and forever foremost, is a badass -not to be fucked with- MC. Vasya is uniquely herself in a society that would rather see her confined or dead than allow her to live freely, bound to no man or church. Her journey is not one I'd ever forget and could easily re-read in the future. I also really, really love that her "ugliness" does not faze her. Nor can it be used against her to hurt her. It's a testament that while Vasya may not be conventionally attractive to her society's standards, she nevertheless stays a constant topic of conversation and borderline obsession amongst these people. I love that for her! Stay mad!

The twists and turns this plot took! Towards the ending of the book, the anxiety of everything falling apart was nearly going to eat me alive. Several times I had to take breaks and rant to my best friend about the story, LOL. What makes a book a great read for me is when I am so impacted and invested in the story that it feels like my heart will leap out of my chest if all does not end well. 

Finally, I enjoyed the topics of religious hypocrisy and gender norms. I feel like these issues were discussed quite well in The Bear and the Nightingale, but they come to a dramatic apex in The Girl in the Tower. Overall, this book was an extremely entertaining and reflective read. I cannot WAIT to read the final book! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

leilapeach's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Violence, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Minor: Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Sexism, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

chloemakesbooks's review against another edition

adventurous fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, and Kidnapping

frumpkin_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Sexual assault, Violence, and Blood

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Toxic relationship, and Vomit