Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Paladin's Strength by T. Kingfisher

36 reviews

kaneebli's review against another edition

adventurous funny tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Confinement, Gore, Sexual content, Trafficking, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Infertility, Slavery, Torture, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

toobusy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful 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? No

4.75

I just love this series. The author's humor and pacing, with the narrator's excellent array of character voices just hooks me every time.

Istvhan was such a fun and interesting character from the first book that I was looking forward to seeing his romance play out. Clara makes for an excellent pairing given her wit and demeanor which creates an environment for their antics and banter to flourish. All the while some pretty serious plot stuff with violence, loss, and coping strategies takes main stage. 

I cannot praise enough that we have two MATURE characters to follow, both in age and in mentality! As I grow weary of YA fantasy and the forever 16-20something characters, T. Kingfishers books have been the respite I've needed. 

If you need a good mystery, some solid action, charming banter, emotional connection, and some unabashed lust you've picked up the right book. 

Spice: 3.5/5 🌶️

~Audiobook~

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Violence

gyroshrike's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Really horny and really funny. Badass also.

Ending too abrupt. Give me an epilogue damnit!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Animal cruelty, Confinement, and Slavery

moderate decapitation, rotting flesh and corpses, human and animal experimentation

_jamie's review

adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore, Violence, and Blood

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

sadetanssija's review

adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, and Excrement

katbecker96's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring tense

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, and Gore

leontyna's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

4.0

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were slightly less annoying in their will-they-won't-they dynamics than in the previous book in the series, it felt like they had better reasons for their hesitation. It became a bit annoying after a while though, I would have loved a shorter slow-burn. Luckily there was enough action to keep me distracted from my annoyance.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Violence

Moderate: Death, Sexual content, and Kidnapping

tifftastic87'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

What does one of the last remaining Paladins of the Saint of Steel have in common with a nun trying to track down her kidnapped sisters? A hell of a lot more than you'd think! Clara and Istvhan's quests seem to be overlapping leading them both further into danger and each other's affections. 

Following the events in Swordheart and Paladin's Grace, but not requiring or spoiling either of those books, Paladin's Strength is the same quest while falling in love style. I really like these, and I am picky about romance, for a lot of reasons. Namely that the characters are in their 30s to 40s, have body diversity, have goals other than getting in the other's clothes (though they aren't shy about having thoughts about that), and are usually pretty funny. T Kingfisher has a sense of humor that works really well for me and her worlds are both dark and humorous in a way that blends very smoothly. 

Istvhan is a large man who recognizes that he is a large man who can be imposing and that combined with his rank puts him in a position of power over Clara, a fact that he acknowledges and takes into account from the beginning. Clara is now slouch though, she's not well trained in battle but she is also a very tall and imposing woman, who can swing a hammer as good as Istvhan can swing a sword. The last third of the book made me emotional at a lot of moments, something I wasn't expecting mixed in with jokes about apple pox and being attacked by rotting bodies.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Kidnapping

rhi_'s review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Violence, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Gore, and Blood

Minor: Sexual content

jonie_rich's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail