Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Children of Blood and Bone: Goldener Zorn by Tomi Adeyemi

9 reviews

sauvageloup's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense 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

An engaging fantasy read with good writing and pacing.

pros:
- what set it apart the most I think was the Nigerian cultural influences, and how Yoruba and the gods made the magic and the worldbuilding different and interesting. There was hints of a larger world which was interesting, but it made a great change to be set in fantasy Africa.
- the writing was solid, imaginative and emotional and the dialogue was good. I didnt enormously connect to the characters, but I did like them and appreciated their complexities and back stories.
- I did like the romance between Tzain and Amari, that felt more natural, and I liked Amari's character and how she develops. 
- I also liked that magic was shown through hair (as well as the usual eyes), which I think emphasised the importance of hair in Black peoples culture and how they have been the subject of racism and oppression because of it.
- Adeyemi draws attention to the parallels between the oppressive tyrant in the book and the police brutality in real life and I did feel that resonance in the book.


cons:
- throughout, I felt it very strongly had the YA revolution, fantasy, romance tropes going on. maybe it was fresher at the time, but

the romance felt shoved in there for extra drama (esp between Zelie and Inan, Amari and Tzain's felt more natural), and I did roll my eyes a little at some of the plot points (getting a "quest" for a magic stone and scroll, the bad guy flicking back and forth in alliances, Zelie randomly losing her magic for maximum effect, magic being lost to the realm, having to do a ritual on one special day, dead parents fuelling all motivation, etc.). other things were tropes, like everyone being badass with a weapon and them riding giant beasts, but those were more fun.
- also, character motivations felt weird. why did Inan fluctuate so much in his loyalties? I couldnt rly understand that. Zelie too made some odd decisions which seemed to just serve the plot. 
- the last line also confused me, not sure if it was meant to or not? clearly magic wasnt lost but why was it so shocking that Amari had magic.

overall, a bit mixed, maybe just because it was written nearly 10 years ago now so didnt feel as fresh. still want to read the 2nd one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

ethuiliel's review against another edition

challenging dark inspiring tense 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

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Genocide, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Sexual content

bookishperseus's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing 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: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

desiderium_incarnate's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.75

"I won't let your ignorance silence my pain."

1. Please read the authors note, if you've read the story. 
2. This was fascinating, the story and it's characters took so many turns in their character development. It all made sense though. There was a lot of hurt and grief in a few days storyline. The characters also had noticeable trauma, and all handled it differently, which is very good writing, because I've also read books where that was completely disregarded. So all in all worth the read, I think it's better to read it not spread out over months though. 
3. Crooked Kingdom vibes at times. 

"Everyone else feels like being caught in the rain. You're the whole tsunami." 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

macmannwood's review against another edition

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

i think that daughters should get to kill their abusive fathers more often

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

sarah984's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-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

2.0

For the first 200 pages, this was a 4-star read for me. The world is vast and interesting, the magic system is cool, and I loved the idea of an epic quest novel (take the artifacts to the Place and do the Ritual) that's not set in generic medieval European fantasyland. The characters’ conflicts felt realistic and while they could be a little impulsive it was understandable because they're teens. 

Then I hit the halfway point and the plot ground to a halt to do this extremely generic reylo-style romance (complete with force bond and nonsensical insta love) and then just one stupid thing after another happened and all of the goodwill the first half had generated burned off immediately. There is an extremely graphic torture scene involving one of the female characters that is told through the lens of how the most boring male character in existence feels about it.

I also don't like books where the oppressed people are shown to be extremely dangerous, especially when the author is clearly linking their plight to real-world oppression, and this got worse in the second half.

I liked the plot twist at the end (though it was really unclear why that happened) but not enough to save the reading experience for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Genocide, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Stalking

Minor: Infidelity, Sexual content, Vomit, and Trafficking

battybookworm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-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

4.5

This was a book I've had on my shelves forever, and once I actually got over the hurdle of starting it, I could not put it down. This giant book came with me everywhere and it was very fun to read. I loved Zelie and Amari's chapters, and even Inan after a period. I think the author did the separation of their voices incredibly well and the characters' shifts and growth were developed and lovely to read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Colonisation

Moderate: Animal death, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, and Toxic relationship

batwinggoth's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Self harm, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Stalking

Minor: Confinement, Cursing, and Police brutality

alicelalicon's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Grief