Reviews with content warning for Grief - The Half King

Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Half King by Melissa Landers

7 reviews

rogue_duckie_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

For me, is a ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ star read. It was well written and the characters were very complex, pacing was moderate, but I just wanted more to the story and plot. It has religious intolerance and prejudices that may have overshadowed some of the other important plot pieces. However, it is also a love story to female empowerment.

***THE SECOND BOOK OF THE SERIES IS TBD***

Synopsis: The 6 noble families of the kingdom are cursed. Each family experience a different curse, but it always affects the first or second born of the family. Their fates are predestined and will claim them upon their 20th birthdays. However, an unskilled, magicless seer is sent to be the emissary to the King. A king who is destined to spend his nights in the otherworld and his days fading between the other and his kingdom. A new fate is spun for her if she can find the path to break the curse. But the fates shall not be able to guide her. Will she overcome her self-doubt, forge the path, and save the King? Or will the King be banished to the other world?

----

Impression: I really enjoyed the story once I got past the religious fanaticism. There are a few plot holes, like why one character stays in their tent the whole duration of the quest (never answered). I'm sure some of it was left for the succeeding books, but there were way too many "why is that a thing" or "what about….?" for my liking. I recommend waiting for the next book if you have not yet read this one. Hopefully it fills in the gaps.

***QUOTES, TROPES AND CHARACTERS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS***

Tropes: Allies to Lovers, Quest, Prophecy, Chosen One, Forbidden Romance, Found Family

Spice level: 🌶️🌶️ - A few open door scenes, but not overly descriptive or crass.

Action/War level: 💥💥 Moderately low - There are a couple of fight scenes, but nothing overly dramatic. Most of the tension is speculative chatter.

FMC: Cerise - very loud, opinionated female who loves with her whole heart, which makes her super vulnerable. It's hard for her not to love. Has an affinity with animals. She is supposed to be a seer, but her magic is latent. She's a late bloomer. She is sent on a quest to obtain a sacred blade to end the curses of the kingdom.

MMC: King Kian Mortora - He's the king who wishes to protect all his subjects, regardless of whomever they are. He makes questionable choices because of attraction/love and it costs dearly. He goes to the otherworld at night, but is beginning to fade during daylight as well.

Main antagonist: The curse -- It is different for every family, but it is rare to live longer than the 21st year of life for many first born nobles. It is tearing the kingdom apart.

Side Characters:

Daerick - Gifted with all knowledge. I love his bubbly personality and the friendship with Cerise.

General Petros - Kind of fatherly but also he's a bloodthirsty killer who does things then asks questions.

Father Padron - High Priest of the Order. He's really tolerant of Cerise's questions until they get too close to things he wants hidden.

Nina - Cerise's gorgeous sister

Reverend Mother - The High Seer of the Order who basically raises Cerise and has the prophetic vision of her.

Blue - A cute puppers

Nero - an unlikely ally

Favorite Quotes:

“Intentions are more meaningless than grains of sand. It’s your actions that matter.”

"Will you be so afraid to dim your gift that you end up dimming your own light in the process?”

“Those who hesitate are lost.”

“I have Seen more than the death of the king’s emissary. I have foreseen a possible end to the curses.”

"For his body to follow the pull of his spirit was an oddly romantic element of his curse that she hadn’t anticipated."

"There’s no such thing as an unnatural tendency. If something occurs within nature, it is by default natural. What’s unnatural is to vilify it and criminalize it and force people into hiding for being born the way they are.”

Content Warnings

timbitsreads's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious 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

5.0

I really liked this book, it was exactly the vibe I needed. A little bit of romance mixed in with a main quest. High stakes for the characters but not too heavy or high stakes as a reader. There were some very cheese moments

The morning of Cerise's Claiming Day. If you know, you know

but you have to expect that to a certain degree when it comes to YA books. I was a little surprised at the level of description in a couple of the romance scenes because of how YA the rest of the novel is, but if you're more of a spice reader you will find it pretty tame.
The characters are all pretty likeable, even the ones whom I didn't trust at first. None of the conflict comes from any of the characters dynamics within the group as they all get along pretty well. Even between Nero and Father Padron which I think could have added more 2nd act tension.
There is a mystery at play and the reveal was enjoyable, I knew where it was going but it hides an extra layer. I am very excited for the next installment and to see how the implications of the epilogue play out.

Content Warnings

maddiewagnerr's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

3.75

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magneto's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

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

1.75

This book had no idea what it wanted to be - it read like YA but was meant to be adult and the plot is fairly flimsy if you think about it for more than a few seconds. The main character acts so juvenile which I partially understand is due to her upbringing in-universe but because she's so childlike the sex scenes and near insta-romance were a little uncomfortable to read. The book feels like it's supposed to be high stakes, with concrete deadlines on people's lives, but then the pacing is off combined with convenient quickly executable solutions. Also, the "plot twist" was something you could see since nearly the beginning of the book unfortunately so the ending of the book didn't have as much impact as intended. If I hadn't downloaded this as my sole book to read during an international flight I'd have DNF'd.

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fangirlfaction's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

The synopsis for this book piqued my interest because the premise sounded so intriguing. A cursed king that fades into shadows at night? A bonafide shadow daddy? Cursed noble families? A religion devoted to an angry goddess, or so it seems? Yes, please! Sign me right up. It's like this author gathered up a bunch of my favorite tropes and molded them into a story that is my ultimate kryptonite.

I found myself entranced from the very first chapter. I didn't expect it to but the author's writing style really resonated with me. It was very engaging and flowed beautifully. The plot of the book packed a big punch. I was totally invested in the story from start to finish. I just couldn't get enough. There were tons of shocking plot twists that carried a lot of weight in the story. The world-building wasn't extravagant but painted a nice picture for the reader of this world.

I formed an attachment to these characters straight away. All of the characters were distinct with unique personalities and backgrounds. I love that while Cerise grew up very sheltered in a religious temple she still wasn't afraid to speak her mind. She seemed very ignorant of certain things but that didn't mean that she was timid. Kian was rather mysterious at first. After warming up to Cerise he was quite a sweetheart. You could feel his pain about his circumstances. It affected him even though he tried to hide it. Daerick was a surprising character that captured my heart. He was a glass-half-full kind of person who was an absolute joy. He also had some pain about his curse but he was proactive and positive that they could reverse it. Nero was another side character who was absolutely charming. Cerise and her close companions have the makings of the perfect squad goals. The villain of the story was definitely worthy of the title.

The romance felt a bit rushed to me but I can't deny that the chemistry between Cerise and Kian was undeniable. It was a tangible thing that felt organic and genuine. I truly loved the banter between them in the beginning.

Overall, this was a transfixing romantasy that you won't be able to get out of your head. The plot twists were thrilling, the characters were enchanting, and the romance was forbidden and tantalizing. After that ending, I am so stoked to read the second book in this series!

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espurrr's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

I really like Cerise. She's sheltered, but so curious. Her deep love and empathy for all things really shows through her actions. I also like how she stays true to herself, even in difficult situations. She's determined to do what is right.

The setting is interesting enough. The side characters are entertaining. The half mercy, half wrath goddess is appealing to me.

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xapoptosisx's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

A very strong 4.5 stars half of this felt like a dnd campaign all fun and whimsy while the other half was a quite gut wrenching tale of religious trauma and what it means to be a woman in a patriarchal world and then overthrowing it. Cerise's speech in the final battle impeccable 10/10 no notes. The epilogue so scary and then the fairyloot edition has a bonus chapter from the pov of the dog which takes place after the epilogue which is somehow more intense and eerie than the original epilogue. Anyway I'm looking forward to read the next one.

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