Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Curse of Saints by Kate Dramis

10 reviews

jg34's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.25

I don’t know why but I had low expectations. Maybe because I’ve read a lot of bad romantasy books lately and this is a debut. But I was wrong!

I think this had the perfect mix of romance, intrigue, world building and character growth. But by far I was most surprised by how much I liked the enemies to lovers situation. I was ready to give up on that trope because I often find that the “enemy” backstory is always so over the top and not realistic in other books. But this was deeper and the two characters history made sense to me. I understood what brought them to enemyhood. 

And the romance!!! I loved it. A good amount of slow burn. No trivial issues that pulled them apart miscommunication. The stakes felt appropriately high and I was really invested in their story. I was confused about some of the magic and world building but I am pretty sure that is just me not being 100% focused while listening. I can’t wait to see what happens in book 2!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and War

lakea's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful mysterious reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Religious bigotry

moonchild_cos's review

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: Confinement, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, Death of parent, and War

Minor: Vomit, Abandonment, and Alcohol

bookish_hollyx's review

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Torture, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Vomit

aseel_reads's review

adventurous dark 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

2.75

I liked the enemies to lover aspect and there were some nice plot twists but overall the plot was a bit broken and confusing at times

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

mattiedancer's review

adventurous medium-paced

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

4.25

Writing: 4⭐️/5 

Alright, the writing is above adequate. At times, it really pushes the characters and plot in a nice, even beautiful, way. I think there were a few moments where the writing fell a bit flat, but overall, I had few issues with the writing.

Characters: 4.5⭐️/5

**Spoilers Below**

Kind of split on this one. On one hand, the characters were incredibly rich and interesting. On the other, it fell a bit into the trope of near-teens being incredibly powerful quickly. Both main characters hold head positions in the kingdom and, at times, act incredibly childish in spite of such prestigious positions. However, the three main characters we follow were fairly well-fleshed and fascinating, making their little immaturities a small issue that I was ready to ignore/accept. I liked the relationship between the characters and how slowly it grew – though maybe that also carried on a bit too long. I did like the fact that the enemies portion of the enemies-to-lovers trope felt real and raw. I really believed that these two people would not love each other. 

Plot: 4.5⭐️/5 

I want to give the plot a better mark, but the beginning was a lot of convenience in order to get our characters into another country. It was nice to see everyone in their element originally, but, plot-wise, it felt a bit weird where the novel started. I liked the second half of the book a lot more. The stakes increased, the drama unfolded, and our slow-burn romance finally ignited. I will also say there were some twists and turns I wasn’t expecting, or didn’t really think would happen, and I loved not knowing anyone’s next move.

Who Should Read This Book? 

• Fans of romance-fantasy novels
• Fans of ACOTAR, TOG, Fourth Wing
• Those looking for plot-first books that still provide a bit of spice 🌶️

Content Warnings? 

• Sexual content, blood, violence, murder, death, death of parent, war, torture, kidnapping, grief, vomit

Post-Reading Rating:  5⭐️/5

I am ready to watch this girl burn the world. 

Final Rating: 4.25⭐️/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

zimmerlemon's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

4.0

Aaah!! I need book 2 asap!!

That was fun. Lots of fun mystery and suspense but not overly confusing. The twists and turns towards the end

especially with Aidon back and forth

were quite the roller coaster but I’ll take it. I’m such a sucker for will’s type of “it was all for you!!!” vibe, that was solid. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Death, Torture, and Violence

bookedandbusy's review against another edition

adventurous 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? No

4.5

I really enjoyed this one. I didn’t find the world building to be too complicated or hard to follow, and I really loved the characters! That being said, I do feel like the storyline jumped around at times which was a bit confusing. But!! Other than that, absolutely fantastic book and I’ll be reading the second one! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Torture

Aya uses her persuasion to get Will to jump off a cliff, he lives and it’s not technically a suicide attempt, but it can definitely be viewed this way, and it may be triggering

soniajoy98's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Kidnapping and War

lisashelves's review

adventurous challenging 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content and Grief

Minor: Torture and War