Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - The Half King

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Half King by Melissa Landers

10 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

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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suzie2006's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious 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? No

3.25

The Half King was well done and an enjoyable read, but not quite a four star read for me. Cerise and Kian as characters are likeable, but I feel like their relationship wasn’t done as well as it could have been. I wanted more tension, more angst and more development. I feel like it was 0-60 a little too quickly to be plausible.

Secondary characters were good but not great with 100 more pages I feel like Daerick, Nero, General Petros and Lady Delora could all have a little more character development. I also figured out some of the “twists” (but not all). There were also a few questions that were created but never resolved- I don’t want to list them, because I don’t like to write spoilers in my review. Since this is a series, it could be that they will be addressed in a future book- but somehow I don’t think so. I think the author feels like she tied up the loose ends with a couple sentences in the final 20 pages. If so, this is a 3 star read- solid instead of 3.25, so I am giving it the benefit of the doubt.

This is fundamentally a story about how power corrupts, the power of love (romantic and family) and how secrets and lies are never a good idea. This book has good “bones” and with a little more slow burn romance and character development this book could easily be a 4-5 star read, but in its current form I will read Book 2, but I don’t feel the need to re-read or keep this one. Good way to spend an afternoon, but ultimately a “one and done.”

Content Warnings

words_and_dreams's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

New Adult romantasy.
Entertaining enough, set in a fantasy world where the magic system/religion is basically Catholicism with magic. I understand that the author is using her real life experiences but it's very on the nose.
World building was fairly basic, the hero had very little personality or things to do.
I did like that the heroine was not the typical girl boss fantasy heroine and was more traditionally 'feminine' with life long believes she needed to overcome.
Being a romantasy, the love story should take centre stage but it was a little too insta lovey for me.
Bonus points for the dog like companion. 🐕

Content Warnings

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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Content Warnings

rebeccas_readingnook's review against another edition

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adventurous sad medium-paced

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

2.75

This book had so much potential and it fell so flat.

The first chapter I spent the first few pages thinking this was maybe a flash back or a moment in time because the way the character was acting and what she was saying made her seem very young. I thought she was maybe a 10-12 year old girl..
only to find out that she's actually 19.

Then she meets Kian... She spent 3 seconds with him and was in love with him. Their romance was so superficial and fake that it just didn't make sense at all. It actually was repulsive for me.. and I think a large part of that was because she seemed like she was 12 years old the whole way through. I straight up would have rather had no romance and just a platonic relationship between them.

The political and religious aspects of this book is what kept me going. I was interested in seeing where that would go... And honestly it didnt really go anywhere.

There were so many plot holes as well. Like the fact that the first born of the royals doesn't live past 21, yet his parents were well into their adult years when they were murdered?

The way that Kain carried himself... He seemed soo much older than what he was. He seemed more 23-24 and I think he was only 20? This added to my repulsive reactions to their relationship as well because he seemed so old and she seemed so young.

Idk there's just a lot that happened and didn't happen in this book. It had so much potential and was just not well executed. I will not be continuing this series.

Content Warnings

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.

Content Warnings

vixairy's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging 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? No

5.0

Content Warnings

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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