Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Defy Me by Tahereh Mafi

79 reviews

aysha_blake's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Gore, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing and Sexual content

tashalouiset's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

4.0

I love this series <3

This feels like a different story altogether than from when the series started but that's great in a long series. I love that Kenji has been promoted to getting his own POV as well. He definitely has some main character energy that should be explored 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture

abicaro17's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

Honestly this book was a total flop until like the last 10 chapters. It was somehow both boring and unrealistically chaotic. Paris is alive, Ella has evil parents, Emmaline is creating the illusion of destruction, almost everyone knows more then they let on, and Ella just kinda decides not to freak out now??? Idk man. I did adore the Aaron content and the little birthday party at the end made me cry so it got an extra star for that. I just hope the last few books make slightly more sense. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

rokinjaguar's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-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

3.5

I’m torn on this book, but for different reasons than earlier books in the series. The writing quality is greatly improved and I enjoyed a lot of it, but also a lot of it was still soap opera-y. It had some camp to it, which I appreciated, but I do miss the instability of early Juliette. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Moderate: Body horror

Minor: Sexual content

rachelefelli's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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? N/A

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Moderate: Child abuse

melist6's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief

Minor: Suicide attempt

esterslibrary's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Blood

ceruleanshelves's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

“And it’s not insane to imagine that sometimes even horrible people are searching for a way out of their own darkness.”

this one gets wild. finding out just how fucked up the parents of the reestablishment really are and how deep this all runs is a mindfuck. this is definitely the darkest book of series yet, largely in part to revelations involving

juliette's/elle's sister, emmaline

. ngl, kinda fucked me up, i wasn't really prepared for that.

we get more nazeera, who i LOVE. and so does kenji 🤭

“And I don’t think you’re stupid,” she says.
Wrong. I’m definitely stupid. So stupid. I can’t even think right now.
“Okay,” I say stupidly.

i continue to champion juliette and kenji's best friendship and the budding bromance of aaron and kenji.

Kenji looks like he might be choking. “A cartoon?” he says, outraged. “Tangled is not a cartoon. Tangled is one of the greatest movies of all time. It’s about fighting for freedom and true love.”

juliette and aaron >>>>>>>> (obvi) these two have been through so much shit my god i can't wait for their happy ending, bc they certainly deserve it after all of this.

This is, after all, what we’re fighting for, isn’t it? A second chance at joy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Torture, Blood, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

bri__'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This one was alot heavier than the previous books of the series in my opinion, with the content delving into multiple deep topics and introducing revelation after revelation. I loved Kenji's pov within this book and I can't wait to see how his relationship with Nazeera grows. Although I find it annoying that Anderson doesn't stay dead, I understand how it would tie into the plot due to the consequences of Sonya and Sara's capture. I also think that Evie's death was too quick and that it was too easy for Ella to roam the facility.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide attempt

Minor: Racism

hannibanani29's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Torture, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual content, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Medical content