Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Misrule by Heather Walter

15 reviews

veggiestrawenjoyer13's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

3.25

For the first time ever, I actually liked the sequel better than the first book. Some of the first book continued into this one, like the somewhat flatness of the characters and stereotypical/expected behavior. However, I found myself more interested in continuing the book. I was really skeptical after reading some reviews, though I genuinely was more interested in this book. I could see where the writing style of the author improved in certain places. There were also moments that I completely didnt expect and fully shocked me.

For example, I expected Derek’s betrayal because he was too obviously involved. But I didn’t expect Aurora and Neve’s separate plot. I didnt see it coming, like how I had for Derek and Kal.

The character’s still struggled with lacking dimension, but I think they had more complex emotions and motives than in the first book. This made it much more intriguing to read. The ending became very fast paced and quite rushed, I’m not very satisfied with it. Overall, this book was still better (in my opinion) than the first of the series. I’m not sure that I would recommend them, but if you think this is something you would like, you should give it a try.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and War

Moderate: Torture, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death and Bullying

princess_sara_sparkles's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.75

Great duology and story. Heart-wrenching the whole way through 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

amandab0514's review against another edition

dark reflective tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death and Grief

apersonfromflorida's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

Graphic: Death, Violence, and War

Moderate: Slavery, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Child death, Torture, and Death of parent

leafylover's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Genocide, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Torture

keya_caivalur's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, and War

Minor: Confinement, Sexual assault, Torture, Kidnapping, Alcohol, and Classism

scifi_rat's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Plot: 3.5 ★
Prose: 4 ★
Pace: 3 ★
Concept/Execution: 4 ★/3★
Characters: 3.5 ★
Worldbuilding: 3.5 ★
Ending: 3.5 ★

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

booksthatburn's review against another edition

The first one wasn't really my thing, and I think I don't like "will they get back together" plots where their original romance was brief and one person truly became awful in the meantime. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Self harm

Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Child death, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

shatteredspace's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and War

Moderate: Gore

Minor: Slavery and Torture

theespressoedition's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark slow-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

After reading and absolutely obsessing over Malice, I was thrilled to dive into Misrule as soon as possible. The previous book left us on a bit of an intense, emotional cliffhanger and I had to know what happened next...

...what I wasn't expecting was for this book to take place 100 years in the future. That threw me for a loop, I'll be honest. It also made me a little bit frustrated because it showed that Alyce really hadn't grown at all in that time, but completely given in to every bit of evil that was plaguing her from the get-go.

However, that meant there was nowhere to go but up. It just took a while to get there.

This book was a great deal slower than the first and didn't really suck me in until the final third of the story. I kept expecting crazy twists or exciting magic but instead, it became a bit boring, focusing more on the political intrigue and how all of the creatures/monsters were harmed or taken advantage of over the years.

That being said, the ending was really well done. While there were plenty of predictable moments throughout the book, the conclusion was something that gave me pause. I wasn't fully expecting the resolution, which was super pleasing. In addition to that, it also made the slower aspects of the story more beneficial. I believe that if I were to reread it, I would appreciate it more for how it turned out.

I also feel the need to mention that I read this over the course of a month (as a buddy-read) when it would typically be a book I would finish in a matter of days. If I pick it up again in the future, I'd be curious to see how it would make me feel if I flew through it a little quicker and if that would make it feel like an easier, less monotonous read.

As a duology, I'd give it 4 stars. It's a unique twist on Sleeping Beauty and I really enjoyed how the classic fairytale was reimagined!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, and War

Moderate: Torture and Grief

Minor: Self harm