Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Winterkeep by Kristin Cashore

52 reviews

totallyshelfaware's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Death and Murder

cepbreed's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

4.25

I'M SO PROUD OF MYSELF I TOTALLY CALLED IT AFTER READING THE LAST BOOK!!!

Bitterblue and Giddon have my entire heart and each chapter of longing and want made me fall for them more. The pining was beautifully done and the set up in the last book, even if unintentional, made them an instant favorite of mine. Soulmates don't always need to find each other immediately they just need to have their "its always been you" moment.

God I love Cashore's ability to flesh out characters in her entirely unique way. Each interaction is purposeful, each conversation adds layers to the personal narratives of the characters involved, it's masterful. I've never felt so close to a character in a fantasy novel as I do with Lovisa. She is remarkable and vulnerable. Just that is enough to inspire me. Thank you Kristen Cashore for this series that I never thought I'd love so hard. I'd like to travel back in time and simultaneously punch and hug the person I was when I picked up the first book. She was naive in expressing a dislike for the series, but wise to continue on despite that initial opinion. I'll remember these books forever.

Ranking of the books: Bitterblue, Winterkeep, Fire, Graceling

Song: 

• Mirrorball - Taylor Swift

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and War

Minor: Drug use and Infidelity

bchallis's review against another edition

hopeful mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, and Physical abuse

ziege's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring sad 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: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent

miciahsreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious reflective sad 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: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Kidnapping

Minor: War

merenguita's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious 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

5.0

There is something really intresting about setting up a mistry in a fantasy book like this author does in all of the series. In this particular book we get to discover a brand new world with new characters while still seeing some of the characters we know and love from previous books. 
This is also true for the narrator, there are so many narrators! One of the first is Giddon and I honeslty didn't expect to like him that much, i always looked forward to his parts. I think his character arc flourishes in this installment and it's quite beautiful to see his sweetness. 
As always there is some romance, although it's not the main plot and there are more intresting elements to the book. For exaple Lovisa and her family

specially once everything has unfolded and we can see the inner struggle, the conflict with her own identity and how, eventually, she takes her power back

The only thing I would add is that I hope we can see more LGBTQ+ relationships between the main characters at some point in the future 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Sexual content

saltydough's review

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.75

I've been reading the Graceling books since I was young, and I really enjoyed finding myself back in that world again. Kristin Cashore is undeniably a very good writer and creates carefully thought-through plots with lots of focus on the characters' thoughts and feelings. That being said, this is not my favorite or hers, which could also be down to the fact that I'm no longer within the target age range. I felt that the multiple POVs didn't work very well because she Cashore didn't change her writing style, or the character's thoughts, enough for each one to be distinctive. In such a character-focused story, switching from one to the other is almost counter-productive because we never stay in anyone's head long enough to feel truly connected to their POV. I was also a bit disappointed by Giddon and Bitterblue's romance. Though I think those characters do have chemistry when they're on the page together, it was annoying that when they were apart, every other sentence would be about how Bitterblue would've loved this or Giddin would've done that, and so on. I get that Cashore was trying to create that pining, but it just didn't work for me.

I do think this is a really fun and entertaining book, though, and I appreciated the allegory about climate change. Would recommend!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Violence, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use

elle_dee's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

darth_twain's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad 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? It's complicated

2.5

If you are a fan of other YA fantasy novels, then you will enjoy the story of this book. Be aware of adult content that is not appropriate for young readers. I enjoyed the story but will be throwing the book away before I have children of my own who could stumble across this book and read adult content slipped into a YA story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

lumberelk's review

challenging mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Confinement

Moderate: Sexual content, Murder, and Gaslighting

Minor: Bullying and Suicidal thoughts