Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Varjo ja riipus by Leigh Bardugo

114 reviews

filipacmiranda's review against another edition

3.5

Shadow and Bone dumps the reader into Alina Starkov's journey as a cartographer turned Grisha. As a main character, Alina is somewhat relatable. She kept trying to find her place and belong - something everyone experiences at some point. And, even though she spent half the book sulking, I can give her a pass because she was emotionally deregulated and lost after being torn from the only person who reminded her of home. 

The reader learns things at Alina's pace and gets familiarised with Grisha orders as the story progresses. The lack of an explanation for how Ravka and the Grand/Little Palace worked made the story seem more natural and aligned with her discovery of a new reality. The fact that there's no magic system in this book (with the Small Science being the manipulation of the elements) also made the world it displays seem closer to reality. 

This was a pleasurable read with intriguing characters. After seeing how the Netflix show expanded on the original content and considering all the underlying storylines, I believe it could have benefited from other points of view. 

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1st Read (2020): 4.00 stars 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Murder

Minor: Sexual assault

alex_4's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and War

fadingmoths's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Toxic relationship and War

Minor: Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Classism

kaycanread4's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful inspiring tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Toxic relationship, and War

Minor: Sexual assault

brekker_by_brekker's review against another edition

adventurous emotional fast-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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Toxic relationship

Minor: Sexual assault

natyourusual_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

2.5

It was a fun book. I think the biggest disappointment was in the characterization of the Darkling

(I really wanted him to just be a misunderstood antihero or to have a better goal overall to make him a justifiable villain but he’s just evil for evil’s sake and I don’t like that for him)

and I just don’t like Mal at all as a character, but it’s a solid YA fantasy book with a very interesting magic system and world. I devoured the first 3/4 of the book (it almost fooled me into thinking it’s adult fantasy very briefly because it was that good) but the final stretch was not what I wanted. The writing is very beautiful and I am excited to see where it goes anyways!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Gore

Moderate: Death and Violence

Minor: Chronic illness, Sexual assault, War, and Classism

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, Violence, Blood, and Murder

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

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

abookwormspov's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gaslighting, and War

Minor: Sexual assault

lri_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gaslighting and War

tays_books's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Sexual assault and Death of parent