Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

168 reviews

mythicsage's review against another edition

adventurous emotional fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual harassment, Violence, and Animal death

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child death, Classism, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, Alcohol, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Genocide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, and Slavery

Minor: Abandonment, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Rape, Eating disorder, Alcoholism, Bullying, Confinement, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, War, and Xenophobia

emilywemily6's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.75

I loved this book and need to continue the series asap! I read the Six of Crows duology first and so far think I enjoyed those books slightly more because they really sucked me in; this book didn’t fully immerse me in the world. I love the characters, loved seeing Alina grow as a character, and I love the twist at the end! I also appreciated that the ending wasn’t such a huge cliffhanger that I had to start the next book immediately. I feel like there is more nuance and depth to the Darkling too, so I am looking forward to seeing how the rest of the series goes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Blood

Moderate: Violence and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gaslighting, Sexual content, War, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Alcohol

readerorwateva'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Death of parent, War, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Rape, Suicide, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Slavery, Child abuse, and Torture

angreadseverything's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, and Confinement

this_is_naomimi's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood

noras_library's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

This book made me feel more than any book has made me feel in a long time. The idea of the book is amazing and the execution is perfect. I loved the writing style.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Violence, Death, Gore, Slavery, Murder, Blood, and Animal death

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Child death, and War

Minor: Sexual content

lovejasmine's review

adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Grief, Blood, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Death, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, and Physical abuse

toastyghosty13's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

3.0

i watched part of the netflix series last year and then stopped close to the end of the first season once i learned it was based on a book series. i liked the series enough and adore ben barnes so i kept it on my TBR list. 

i did really enjoy this and found it difficult to put down once i picked it up. it took me about 2 days to read through it completely. there are twists and turns, plus the world is so interesting that i just want to learn more. 

i will say that i found alina a bit annoying in the book but loved her in the show. she seemed so self conscious in the book which irked me because the actress in the show is so full of confidence and did a great job. 

i also feel critical of the differences between the tv show and book versions of mal and the darkling. 

the darkling in the show was much more interesting to me as a character, but quite bland for me in the book. in the show it was not as obvious that

Spoiler

he’s the baddy

but in the book it was practically screaming that with every appearance he made. in the show, i wanted to see more of the darkling

Spoiler

and was actually surprised and upset that he ended up being evil. i am still holding out hope for a redemption in the rest of the tv series, though i’m also not sure that i care that much about him in the book besides being curious about what his fate is after being left in the fold. i’m also wondering if there is some bigger motive or player behind all of this.

for mal, i found him extremely annoying in the show and much more endearing in the book. i wanted to see more of mal in the book and would groan whenever i saw him in the show. at the very least, this makes me excited for the next book with the way this one left off. 

i was also frustrated that

Spoiler

there was no mention of how if you spare the life of the stag it could grant you a wish. i was fully expecting that to happen as the main solution to alina wearing the collar rather than some self realization that she could have made at any time prior to entering the fold. it felt a little cheap as the big hero moment that turns the tides.

i am surprised at

Spoiler

how many of the soldiers and grisha knew about the darklings plans and just went along with it. you would think some would be adverse to war, or even just attempt to stage a coup if they were so unhappy with the way the king rules. instead, they chose to completely wipe out a city of innocent people and will probably be at fault and responsible for the death and gruesome demise of countless others.

overall i did enjoy this but not as much as i thought i would. i have plenty of complaints about the characters and plot. however, i am still fully invested and plan on reading all of the books from the series and the two spin-off series’. it is still absolutely worth the time and is an exciting story that is difficult to pause once you have begun. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Kidnapping, Torture, Murder, Blood, Animal death, War, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Sexual harassment, and Fire/Fire injury

discogecko's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, War, Violence, Murder, and Genocide

Moderate: Gaslighting and Slavery

Minor: Gun violence and Torture

jguerrera77's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Gore and Blood