Reviews tagging 'Torture'

A Shadow Crown by Melissa Blair

8 reviews

imatlick's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.25

Ultimately this book was about two things: 1) increased world building and 2) Keera, her personal growth, and learning more about her heritage. Though Keera grew as a character, it was at the expense of a) other characters’ and their growth, and b) the plot. For example, Riven seemed SO two dimensional in this book compared to the prior one. I will read future books to see what happens to Keera, Gerarda, and Gwyn, but this book was unfortunately forgettable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Torture

Minor: Death of parent

melissaslibraryy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Classism, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Grief, Medical content, Violence, Blood, Colonisation, Forced institutionalization, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Sexual content, Cursing, Genocide, Torture, Body horror, and War

starrysteph's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-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

3.75

Okay Melissa Blair!! A Shadow Crown starts RIGHT where A Broken Blade left off - and in my opinion, adds much more depth to the world and characters.

Keera is bound to serve the king as his Blade - his top killer and spy. But she’s secretly been working against him, with his youngest son Prince Killian and the Shadow, Riven (whom she may just be falling for). They’re conspiring to defeat the immortal ruler once and for all and bring safety back to the kingdom.

But not everyone is trustworthy, and plans are thwarted one by one. Keera has to protect her people, find a potential spy, and navigate the depths of her own grief while uncovering the truth of her own identity.

I appreciate how accessible and engaging this series is. I think Blair’s writing has already improved tremendously from book one, and the pacing worked perfectly for me here. The overall arc of A Shadow Crown is much slower than the action-packed A Broken Blade, but there were still interesting things happening during each bite-sized chapter. I particularly enjoyed some new side characters, including earnest librarian Vrail.

This readability allows for brilliant overarching themes such as colonization, racism, trauma & grief, addiction, identity, and so much more to be highlighted and ingrained in every aspect of the world and characters. 

There were a few plot stumbles for me - mostly around Keera’s judgment and intellect (which I felt took a big dip here when compared with her decision-making in book one). I also felt like the writing was a bit awkward and clunky at times, and occasionally the tropey elements were overused without any clever subversions or fresh angles.

But there were so many captivating moments here - a few explosive battle scenes, but mostly a lot of emotional heart and growth and learning to live through loss and trauma. 

And the ending?! I can’t wait for book three.

CW: colonization, death, violence, self harm, murder, grief, confinement, gore, war, injury, genocide, abuse, slavery, suicidal thoughts, torture, fire, abandonment, addiction, mental health, racism, sexual violence, sexual content

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(I received an advance reader copy of this book; this is my honest review.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Self harm, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Death, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Grief, Abandonment, Mental illness, Child abuse, Confinement, Gore, War, Genocide, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Racism, Drug abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

mcluster1's review against another edition

dark 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? No

3.75

Overall this was a good read. The characters are interesting and easy to route for, even Keera. However, this book definitely had some pacing issues that the first book did not have. I had a hard time getting through the first 75% and then the last 25% was constant action. I am still very excited for the third book! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, War, Xenophobia, Torture, Slavery, Self harm, Gore, and Colonisation

aliciawhatsthestory's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Torture, Death of parent, Alcoholism, and Violence

kowhaiii's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

Fantastic. Much more character focused than the last book, which is great because these characters are wonderful! I can't wait for book three. The worldbuilding is so enthralling and it feels so tangible on the pages. The characters really drive it home for me and we get some backstory for them all in this book. Yay!

I do have a few bones to pick with this installent of the series, unfortunately. There are quite a few typos and simple mistakes in this book, which was surprising considering how polished the previous one was. I was sometimes confused by the sentences and had to reread them a few times, and in places the writing was simply incorrect. This took away from the reading experience for me. I'm a stickler for spelling errors and grammar mistakes, alas.

I have mixed feelings on the ending of this book. No spoilers, but there is a big reveal that I didn't think was foreshadowed in a satisfying way. To me the ending was a bit rushed and felt disjointed from the remainder of the narrative. The ending made sense in theory, but is just didn't feel "right", for lack of a better word. Definitely the weakest point in the story for me. I understand fast pacing, but as a reader I needed more time to digest the newly revealed information before the big finale kicked off. Overall this book was great and tore at my heartstrings in all the best ways. I think the ending was a bit of a let down and thus this book pales in comparison compared to A Broken Blade. Great series, great author, and I cannot wait for the next one! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, and Grief

Moderate: Violence, Self harm, Murder, Sexual content, War, Confinement, Alcoholism, and Death

Minor: Vomit, Police brutality, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Alcohol, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, War, Misogyny, and Death of parent

kat1105's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Torture, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Slavery, Body horror, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Child death, Alcohol, War, Violence, Gore, Abandonment, Blood, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Grief, and Vomit

Minor: Rape, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual violence

readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Sexual harassment, Blood, Violence, Sexual content, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Gore, Racism, Colonisation, Confinement, Abandonment, Torture, Self harm, Death of parent, Hate crime, Medical content, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Alcohol, and Genocide

Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, War, Alcoholism, and Trafficking