Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett

3 reviews

stick2theplan's review against another edition

adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

I enjoyed this book and will probably read the sequel, but it’s not without its flaws. Foundryside required me to actively suspend my disbelief and hold it at bay. My foes in this task included an

ancient, sentient key

, whose anachronistic manner of speaking most closely resembled the “hello, fellow kids” meme, and a magic system that made less sense the more it was explained. And it was explained a lot.

Once I forced myself not to think too hard about it, I did enjoy Foundryside for what it is: a heist novel. The plot itself was solid and the pacing was good, though the ending felt a little abrupt. The book was laden with twists and reveals, some of which were very well executed. I also found the lore interesting. Because none of the POV characters understood the lore, it didn’t suffer from the over-explaining that hindered the magic/technology of the present. 

As for the characters, they were mostly likable but satisfyingly complex. There was appreciable, earned growth from all the secondary characters. I think I was most underwhelmed with the main character’s arc. I’d like to have seen more of her development manifest throughout the novel; it was sort of spelled out for her by a literal deus ex machina. So much telling, not enough showing in this book. Still, the characters did feel fleshed out. The tropey stock characters were few and far between. That said, Bennet uses the antagonist-to-ally bait and switch one time too many for the eventual antagonist reveal to have much shock value. 

At the end of the day, this is still a novel I’ll recommend to my friends. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical trauma, Murder, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Vomit, Trafficking, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

Minor: Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, and Car accident

skrulls's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Medical trauma, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual violence, Blood, Vomit, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

kassidyreads's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Slavery, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Misogyny, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Cannibalism, and War