Reviews with content warning for Violence - Lo scudo del principe

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Lo scudo del principe by Cassandra Clare

48 reviews

adrianaslibrary's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging 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

3.75

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stagemanaginger's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

4.75

The first half of the book felt very long, but I enjoyed it overall! I look forward to the second book! It was nice to switch between the two perspectives to get a full picture of the world they’re in.

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manaledi's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional slow-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? No

4.25

This is one of my favorite fantasy reads of the year, which is saying something as I'm over 100 books and most of them are fantasy at this halfway point. The pacing was slow at the beginning with the dual POV, but everything really started to come together and it was entertaining throughout. I appreciated the range of characters that all had some depth and some different motivations - there's no obvious "bad" guy and no obvious "good" guy in the trap that so much fantasy falls into. I found myself still thinking about the characters and the plot questions days later and am already impatient for book two. There are some fairly clear similarities to real life places/cultures/religions and in some places I had enough background to follow and in others I could only tell that names were similar.

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a_mayt's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-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? Yes

4.0

A very interesting storyline. However, some details are over explained when not needed & some wording used to frequently. Overall an exciting story making the reader hungry for more.

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tdawgg07's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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? It's complicated

3.5

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lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I received a copy of this book as part of my FairyLoot subscription.
"Sword Catcher" is Cassandra Clare's debut into adult fantasy. Kel was an orphan and a child with a bleak future ahead of him, when he was taken to become a Sword Catcher, a body double for the prince, Conor. Kel and Conor grew up next to each other, and despite the difference in power, Kel thinks of Conor as a brother and would do anything for him. Lin is a member of the Ashkar, a small community that still have magical abilities. Lin has aspired to become a physician, so that she can hopefully find a suitable cure for her best friend's mysterious illness. After an unfortunate attack, Lin and Kel are brought together, and the pair each have their own run in with the Ragpicker King. Now Lin and Kel have to decide what knowledge is worth dying for, and who they can actually trust.
I was blown away with how much I was invested in this story, and I think it is my new favorite from Cassandra Clare. As much as I enjoyed the Shadowhunter world, I really appreciated seeing Cassandra expand her talents into a new world. This book is beautifully written, and it is very evident that the author is an experienced fantasy writer.
I really enjoyed the switching between Kel's and Lin's perspectives. Both characters were equally interesting to me, and I really appreciated getting both of their stories. I appreciated even more when their stories began to converge, and we got to see them come together.
Kel's story is devastating: an orphan who was taken in by royalty to act as the prince so that if there was an assassination attempt on the prince, the real prince would not die. Despite his humble beginnings, I loved seeing his loyalty towards Conor. He could have very easily grown resentful of Conor, but he really believed him to be a brother, and that relationship is so important to Kel. I also think he is a great influence on Conor, and I believe Conor really does care for Kel. Even when they were children, Conor asked if Kel wanted to be the Sword Catcher, because Conor wanted someone who wanted to be there.
Lin's story was incredible. She fought through so much adversity to become a physician, something women could only dream of. Not only did she get to practice medicine, but she was also really amazing at it. Lin's determination to become knowledgeable in the field of medicine was driven by such noble reasons, and it made her all the more relatable and likeable.
This book is rife with action. Just when you think the characters have a moment to breath, there is conflict, and someone's life is on the line. This really made the story progress quickly and helped to keep my attention throughout the entire novel.
The magic is really interesting in this world. I am very curious to learn more about it as the series progresses, because I do not think we got a full picture yet with just this first installment.
I am heavily invested in this story, and I cannot wait to pick up the next book!

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kymboh78's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious 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? No

5.0

Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️
World building: 🏰🏰🏰🏰🏰
Slow burn: 🐢🐢🐢🐢
Violence: 🗡️🗡️🗡️

This is an interesting five star for me.

I didn’t rate it five stars because it was the most amazing book I’ve ever read or because I just couldn’t put it down. I normally rate books based on vibes and just how they make me feel overall.

And don’t get me wrong, this book was a good book. It made me feel good. I was happy with it.

Overall, this was a great read. Honestly, it felt good that I didn’t rush through it and could read it at my own speed. It was nice to not read something that wasn’t “trending” and feeling like I had to finish it super fast so I didn’t see spoilers. The world building was great, the character development was fantastic, although I do wish we saw a little more about Connor and his character development, the story was interesting and although there weren’t crazy omg plot twists, it was still fun.

The book is told from two different third person POV. One follows Lin and the other follows Kel. I enjoyed seeing both sides of the story and how they intertwined. I felt like Lin added a lot of dynamic to the story. I will say there are some things I wish we got more details about but if she gave us everything, it wouldn’t be a series, so I understand.

Some people might argue that it was too slow, I think it was just right. Because of the two intertwined stories (really three, but that third is so closely related to Kel that it’s not necessary for a third POV), the world had to be built up a little more. Clare had to build both sides of the world at once instead of doing one in one book and one in another. That adds a complexity to the writing that was really appreciated.

While it is classified as an adult fantasy, it doesn’t deal with crazy crazy topics. There’s some violence toward the end but not a ton. There’s some suggestive scenes, but nothing descriptive. And I’m pretty sure there was only one swear word, again toward the end of the book.

Have you read sword catcher? Let me know what you think!

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