Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Crier's War by Nina Varela

17 reviews

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Minor: Addiction, Drug use, Infertility, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, and Alcohol

Discrimination and derogatory terms between in-universe factions. Self-injury for magical purposes.

booksthatburn's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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

5.0

I devoured this, finishing the whole thing in two days. Crier is Made, one of the Automae who took over several decades before her creation and displaced the humans who made the first of them. Humans now are servants at best, slaves at worst, full of unrest and needing a revolution. Ayla has dreamed for years of getting back at the local Automae leader for her own brother's death by killing his daughter, but when she becomes Lady Crier's servant things stop feeling so simple after all.

Ayla's closest human friend is in love with her, but she doesn't seem to reciprocate his feelings. I'm not sure whether that's because she doesn't want to get him killed, or if she completely lacks romantic and/or feelings toward him. 

Crier and Ayla don't trust each other but find themselves drawn to each other's company. Crier has almost no friends and is newly betrothed to an Automa fomenting a different kind of revolution, one which would move away from human trappings entirely in a city devoid of life except for the Made. Ayla wanted to kill a specific powerful Automa's child, but before she can she begins to maybe think of that Automae as Crier, possibly a person, and not so easy to let herself kill. The romance between Ayla and Crier builds very slowly and fits their situation. They share intimate connections because of Ayla's role as Crier's servant, but those connections feel one-way because what Crier feels as kindness is a job for Ayla. However, the fact that Ayla has spent years planning to kill Crier means that she has feelings for the Automa which are as intense as Crier's for her... they're just not necessarily the same kind of feeling. 

The worldbuilding for the Automae and the humans is detailed enough to feel like a real place, but it focuses mainly on the ways that the Automae do or do not attempt to mimic humans in their society and structures. It means that a great many concepts and items can be lifted wholesale and then used by the Automae in slightly different ways from how a human would have meant them. The political machinations hit the right balance of intrigue and complexity for me, stopping shy of becoming confusing by keeping the number of important characters and factions small but having their plans have multiple layers. This uses cross-purposes between supposed allies and complementary tactics between nominal enemies in a way that's deliciously messy. 

I love this and I'll read the sequel as soon as I can, I want to know how things resolve for everyone. I don't necessarily want Crier and Ayla to end up together (not without having several truthful conversations first), but I'm excited to see how this story goes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Violence

Moderate: Gore, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Sexual content, Suicide, and Pregnancy

nightshaderoots's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.75

I liked how complex the plot and characters are. The writing style was something to get used to but I liked the way the author described scenes and the characters. The world building was also something I haven't seen before which I loved learning about. The lore building was also paced well so it doesn't feel like info dumping but it was still enough where I wasn't in the dark. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Infertility

stekka__'s review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-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

Great book! Mainly fantasy with a forbidden saphic romance. (Princess x servant) and loved the characters. Although this book was great I think it was very much a lot of world building for the second book (which I’m very excited to read!). The writing was great and never got slow.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Abandonment

Moderate: Death, Grief, and War

Minor: Gore and Toxic relationship

hanz's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, and Infertility

laurbubbles's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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: Violence and Blood

Moderate: Death, Gore, Death of parent, Murder, and War

Minor: Sexual content

strange_little_ranger's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

marshiereads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

4.5

I really and truly liked this book! The author had me from the very beginning with a timeline. Some fantasy novels can drag you through the trenches trying to learn their world and this one is not one of them! I feel like I’m along for the ride, learning about it with her rather than in spite of her. I’m gonna talk specific so spoilers ahead. Also please look at the trigger warnings for this book if that applies as this book has a lot!!

The inner turmoil of both, but especially, Ayla and Crier had me reading the book in only a couple sittings. I almost couldn’t put it down. Trying to figure out what was and wasn’t one of Kinok’s manipulations had me reeling to the literal last pages of the book. I mean wow! The romance was certainly a part of the plot but this is not a “romance book” it is fantasy first but it still felt completely integral and not just thrown in there. I was also a fan of the fact that it wasn’t one of those “we can’t do this because it’s wrong because it’s gay” because frankly as an lgbtq+ person myself I was grateful for some relenting on that narrative choice. There still was an element of “wrongness” but more because on girl literally wanted to kill the other. Overall an excellent start to the series and I cannot wait to read the second (I’ve got it on hold now).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, and Blood

Minor: Miscarriage

sssssoup's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cursing, Infertility, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Alcohol, and War

starccato's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Confinement, Infertility, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, and Alcohol