Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

65 reviews

martin27's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful tense medium-paced

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

3.0

The beginning drags on for quite a while, and the middle struck me as just being bland. The ending was very good though. Really everything after the introduction of Princess Bitterblue is good and the rest is not bad but didn’t interest me that much. I expected a much more complex magic system than what the Graces actually are, which is a vague concept that for some people is the ability to read minds or see the future and for others is just being able to swim sort of fast. The world building as a whole is very weak. In fact it’s the weakest point of the novel, I think. The author’s voice is unique and has promise but the world that Graceling is set in just doesn’t have any depth. 

It was fine and isn’t the worst book ever, but I’m not super committed to picking up any of the sequels. I will stress again that Katsa and Bitterblue have a great relationship that was really interesting, and I love that

Katsa, a woman who is committed to remaining childfree and unmarried, is not convinced that she actually did want children all along. Katsa loves kids and was very protective of Bitterblue, but that doesn’t mean she wants to have kids. It was a pleasant surprise to not have her shoved into a motherly role even when she has to take care of a kid for a third of the novel. Bitterblue is like a sister to her.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Blood, Vomit, and Kidnapping

Minor: Misogyny, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

tigrelilje's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Sexual content, Torture, and Murder

ava_ba's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

This book was outstanding I simply don’t care what anyone has to say, Katsa and Po were everything and Bitterblue deserves the planet

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Murder, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

franksalot's review against another edition

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Pedophilia and Vomit

alexandrabelze's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.25

i absolutely loved the pacing of this book. everything flowed perfectly together and i was never left feeling like things were moving too quickly or like we had hit a wall. cashore’s writing style is so unique, but i came to love it while reading. it fits katsa’s character so well! katsa and po’s relationship had me HOOKED mawma. i was also living for katsa and bitterblue’s (<3<3) relationship. so excited to read the rest of the series!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement and Emotional abuse

Minor: Sexual content, Torture, and Kidnapping

imds's review against another edition

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Child death

jo_d's review against another edition

adventurous funny tense medium-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

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, and Sexual harassment

delvainy's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

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

4.25

This used to be one of my absolute favorite books growing up. I was putting off rereading it for a little while because I only own one book in the series (Fire), and I knew that after I read them I’d want to own all of them. When this was featured in a dream of mine, though, I finally bit the bullet, and it was as good as I remembered. The drama of it all! I don’t know that I would be shocked by the plot twists if I read it for the first time as an adult, but I don’t have to be surprised to appreciate the storytelling. It felt like a bit of a homecoming to reread this book. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

martine3's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Violence

auri_underthing's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring 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

To describe this book in three words:
Journey. Love. Strength.

A sweeping tale about finding love, accepting oneself and a testament to the human spirit.
I loved it!

Also, I was so pleased with how quickly Leck died. The author didn’t dawdle with it and I’m so happy about that.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty