Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons

20 reviews

iforgotilivedhere's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense 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

4.5

My sibling is currently reading the ACOTAR series and that’s one of my least favorite series, so I thought that since they are going through that torture, I should read one of their least favorite books.
But surprisingly, I actually really enjoyed this book. Now, by no means is this book good. The term “mind rape” is used too much, there’s a lot of incest, and some very dumb things that happen in this book, but I absolutely loved the main character, Kihrin, especially his angst with Teraeth. I don’t much care about Janel, but I will read her book shortly so, I can’t have much of an opinion on her yet. 
My main problem with this book was how often rape is used. I did like that we didn’t just let Talon go on what she did to Kihrin. There were actual parts where we saw that Kihrin did feel grief and pain from the traumas that the D’Mons put him through and I liked that! I would like some more queer rep tho, but I know there’s gonna be more. 
I absolutely love Thurvishar. That man is amazing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Classism

achingallover's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

gummiefox's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

this book is complicated, but i loved it! one of the few that i feel the need to go back and reread immediately after finishing it. i'll definitely have to reread it before i start the next in the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism

noshakira's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

5.0

Excellent world-building and intricate storyline. The dual perspectives of the story adds a unique element. I ordered the second book when I was about halfway done with this one because I knew I'd love the remaining story. 

The only difficulty is that some names can be hard to pronounce (as with most fantasy novels) and keep straight, as many are similar or characters go by multiple names for differing reasons, so it's easy to get confused and I'd have to continually remind myself who was who.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Murder, War, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

mysimas's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

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

2.5

If the lines ‘Luke, I am your father.’ and ‘You’re a wizard, Harry.’ ever banged and had a child, it would be this book. 90% of the plot and twists are revelations of this kind except with little to no build up, it’s honestly so over the top it could be satire.

Another thing that irked me was the total absence of mystery. Everything was revealed straight away. Oh, so this person actually isn’t this guy’s mom? Huh, who could the real mom be — oh, the author tells us on the next page, okay. Ohh, and this person might actually be someone completely different? I wonder who — oh okay, I see. And so on and so forth.

Awarding stars for some good scenes (loved the kraken fight) and also the strange and addictive readability. I never like flashbacks… But here, literally 80% of the book was flashbacks (more if you count the asterisk notes), and for some reason it was ok. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Trafficking, and Death of parent

adragoninspace's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

ruthlessreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

Lots of things I loved about this book, including the world building and the interesting magic system. However, I’m always filled with distaste when systems of slavery are present, regardless of whether or not the text condemns it (this one does condemn it). The plot of this book is largely dependent on these systems of slavery and it was hard to enjoy the book for that reason. I gave 2 stars purely for the talent of the writer, which shines through at every turn, and the quality of the actual syntax. That said, the content just didn’t do it for me and idk that I’d read another book by this author. Also, not nearly enough dragons for a book with a giant dragon on the front. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Incest, Toxic relationship, and Injury/Injury detail

jakegray's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Slavery, and Death of parent

anni_swanilda's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Body horror, Incest, Blood, Kidnapping, and Alcohol

Minor: Rape

marleywrites's review against another edition

I just can’t get into it no matter how hard I try :(

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Slavery, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent