Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart

53 reviews

caspian_the_pauper's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

Author is clearly a developing author and the plot is rather predictable but the world building is well done and the characters are easy to root for

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Genocide, Violence, Xenophobia, and War

kalecake's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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 ate this book up!!!!!! It had everything I want in a fantasy book. Epic multiple character POV, family secrets, animal sidekick, murder, two girls in love!!! 

I recommend this to anyone looking for a new world to get lost in. This sucked me in and I couldn’t stop reading. The Constructs are so creepy and delightful to read about. If you’re squeamish about mild body horror or brainwashing, I would say this might not be for you. I was obsessed with the magic system and how these creatures have their power. 

Five stars! I haven’t felt glued to a book like this in a while and I already have the other two. So excited to keep going! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, and Violence

alexijai98's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated

4.25

Love a story where LGBT characters get to just be part of the world!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Xenophobia

alexalily's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Terminal illness, Blood, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Torture, Medical content, Stalking, and Gaslighting

gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Blood

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, and Murder

hapalyn's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Physical abuse, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

wombie's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Child death

kaziaroo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

4.5

On the whole I loved this – the characters, the magic system, the mystery were all amazing (plus a queer-normative world!). I would have liked it if the setting was more fleshed out, maybe going more into the cultures of the different islands rather than them all feeling the same, but overall the story was immersive enough and the characters lovable enough to look past that. I loved Jovis and Mephi in particular, and I liked Lin too; there's always a difficulty in amnesiac characters as they have such a short background on which to build a personality and identity, but I think the author did an admirable job. 

I wanted to see more of Bayan, alas... :(

My only real criticism is that I felt the book would have been better without Ranami and Phalue's POV chapters. Their story had an interesting message and moral dilemma but it just didn't seem to fit and their chapters were quite dull to get through compared to the rest of the book. As a novella on their own, those chapters would have been fine, but I found myself skim-reading them to get back to Jovis, Lin and even Sand. Maybe more will come of Ranami and Phalue in the sequel, but I just couldn't get behind their relationship or find the point of their storyline or its impact of the overall plot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

Minor: War

gatorademachinegun's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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? N/A

5.0

Absolutely DEVOURED this book, the most fun I’ve had with a book in a long time. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Masterfully written.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror and Violence

Minor: Abandonment and War

thoughtsontomes's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

This synopsis reads like it's going to be one POV and instead it is 5, which I do think bogged the story down. Our arguably two main characters are the ones I ultimately cared about most and would have liked more time with. Some of the points about the world and magic system felt a little rushed and glossed over. The writing style reminds me a bit of a typical YA fantasy style, while this definitely is an adult book, so it would make a good crossover title. I'm unsure if this will hold my interest enough to continue with the series but if I do, it will definitely be for the magical animal companion. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Blood

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, and Child death