Reviews tagging 'Death'

Seven Devils by Elizabeth May, L.R. Lam

22 reviews

relin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional 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? Yes

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Genocide, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Outing, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Transphobia, and Kidnapping

allisonwonderlandreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

4.0

Seven Devils features an undercover team of women seeking to bring down an empire and maybe go to a ball while they're at it. There's a great heist moment as well as battling in space, commandeering imperial ships, and investigating secrets be they hidden on backwater planets or in imperial palaces. This was a smooth, cinematic reading experience with snappy action scenes and the vivid, unfamiliar locales that make space operas so enticing.

All our leading ladies have their voices heard in this adventure. The POVs are distinctive and well-developed, providing insight into how each found the resistance and what wrongs the empire did to bring them to this risky endeavor. There's one pleasant sapphic romance just starting to blossom, but the majority is focused on the found family bonds that form among the crew. Each connection point is poignant and delivered convincingly. I also want to shout out the ace representation in Ariadne, hacker extraordinaire, genius, and absolute ray of sunshine. There's also a badass trans woman who I think we'll see more of in the sequel.

In terms of world-building, I think fans of the genre will find it light and approachable. The book makes use of science fiction standbys like AI and mental conditioning/brainwashing to add some further moral questions to the struggle against a massive, dominating imperial power. I look forward to seeing how the plot develops in the sequel, and I am excited to get to know the two late additions to the team much better. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Colonisation

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Slavery, Transphobia, Blood, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and War

breadwitchery's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Medical trauma, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Cursing, Genocide, Rape, Sexual content, and Alcohol

lycanhood's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Torture, Xenophobia, Grief, and Colonisation

jlstein's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and War

starccato's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, Murder, and Colonisation

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Slavery, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Gaslighting

Minor: Drug use, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Torture, Vomit, Death of parent, and Alcohol

wondereads13's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious 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

4.5

This has been described as a feminist space opera, and that's pretty much it. The characters are all women (except the villain and one guy who shows up at the end), they all have their own skill sets, and there's some pretty crazy backstories. I can't believe I have to wait at least another year for a sequel!

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Sexual assault, Violence, and Grief

One of the characters is a former concubine (essentially a sex slave), but the actual contents of her job are kept vague

melaniereadsbooks's review

adventurous dark mysterious 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

I absolutely adored this queer space opera! If you are a fan of Star Wars, I definitely recommend giving this series a try.  There are so many unique characters and the plot is killer! My favorite plot line was Eris but I won't say much about it because of spoilers.  I really loved the idea of the Empire and the fact that all of the "lab-grown" children have to fight to the death to become the heir and the spare! That was brutal and gruesome, but so so interesting to read.

I loved the character development between all of the characters and being able to read a little bit about some of their pasts as well as their presents. I definitely thought the before storylines were good chapters to include!

Also, just....Ariadne. Enough said.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Body horror, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Torture

nerdylari's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

nakutski's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny hopeful tense 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? It's complicated

3.75

Mixed feelings about this one! So a 3.75 rating overall from me.

Things I liked: 
1) Variety of characters and POVs.
2) The fact that the writers managed to maintain a clear and cohesive narrative despite the many POVs. 
3) QUEER REP. All the unashamed queerness and friendship and camaraderie. 
4) A very readable writing style.
5) Intricate but not overcomplicated world building.

The pace was a bit hit and miss for me. (I may be in a reading slump.) At times I found it quite slow. At times I also wished for a little more depth and detail, more hooks to really get me in there to connect. I found the first 2/3 interesting but eventually started to think that it was all a bit... too easy? The last third of the narrative really picks up and surges. So on the back of that, I look forward to the second book. I want to see how things unfold.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, and Medical content

Minor: Sexual content