Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner

10 reviews

sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Kidnapping, and War

Minor: Drug use, Blood, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

spinebenderbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional 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

5.0

 

Continuing my reread of this series, this is the book that really clinched it for me how good this series is (which is wild considering how good the first book is).

We get multiple POVs for this book, which really deepen our understanding of the political and personal conflicts going on and what drives them. I particularly liked the commentary this book has on women in power.

We are presented with two queens - neither of which expected to become queen - who are ruling in very different circumstances. The juxtaposition of the two highlights the ways in which women are allowed power and the ways in which their power is restricted. Attolia is embattled by misogynist and power hungry nobles and foreign powers, and must harden and isolate herself to withstand the constant danger of betrayal and her rule being undermined. Meanwhile, Eddis has won the support of her nobles and can rule without fear that the advice she receives is self-serving or designed to weaken her. Attolia leans in to the trappings of traditional femininity - and trappings is an apt word, as they represent a role she has been trapped in since she was a child - whereas Eddis can lay them aside and embrace a more masculine appearance and interests.

The romance in this book is a fascinating slow burn that is only revealed to be a romance a good two thirds of the way through the book. A book which begins with one part of that romance cutting off the hand of the other! But in watching Attolia's fascination with Eugenides and the horror and regret she feels over the act she ordered also shows the slow reawakening of her emotions, opening her up to the love and trust she eventually feels for Eugenides.

For his part, Eugenides' struggle with what was done to him and the portrayal of his disability are very well done. It felt like a pretty realistic journey through becoming newly disabled and traumatised, and figuring out how to forge a new life alongside those things. But the life he forges is not in spite of his disability, nor is it inspiration porn. It's a hard thing that he does and it's a struggle even once he's come to terms with what has happened. There are relapses into depression and a level of self-loathing over the limitations of his disability that I think will feel familiar to other disabled people. Even while in love with Attolia, he remains afraid of her. There is no magic resolution to the trauma he endured at her hands. But they are entangled in each other in a truly compelling way. They are likes cats clawing at each other and then licking the wounds they created.

Just as in the first book, the mythology continues to parallel and inform the plot. The reveal that Eugenides was betrayed by the gods was heart-breaking, and then the second reveal that he was betrayed in order to save Eddis from destruction makes it all make sense again. He was the tool they chose to bring about the salvation of Eddis, because as the book says, the gods know him well and know what he will do, so they could trust him to bring things to the place they needed to be by the end of the book.

There is little else I can say except that this series remains as impressive upon reread as it did on the first read.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Slavery

unmercifulfish's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective slow-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

4.0

Yikes. Eugenides has a hard time in this one.

When I read "romance" in the tags, I was worried that the hijinks and intrigue that I enjoyed so much in the first book would be pushed aside to make room of a love story. Instead, the relationship is woven artfully into the main narrative. The two parties

spent most of the book apart

, and yet the

enemies to lovers

trajectory was credible and quite moving.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Minor: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Slavery, Blood, and Vomit

sassmistress's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Alcohol

Minor: Slavery, Suicide, Murder, Sexual harassment, and War

szuum's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexism

Minor: Stalking and War

mimeflower's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

i_mina_i's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness and Torture

Moderate: War

Minor: Kidnapping

myarae's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

nyssbomb's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Sexism, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Ableism

roshans's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

3.0

 Okay so Queen of Attolia 

The writing still just isn’t doing it for me. I don’t know why but it just seem so.... impersonal? I’m finding it really hard to get invested in either the plot or the characters. Weirdly the character I care most about is Gen’s father who’s barely there. I’ve kind of just accepted the slow starts but I was kind of expecting more of an adventure story than a political/kind-of-love-story because you know, the first one was??? Idk

Definitely not feeling the romance at all, do people even ship this, does it get better?? I mean it has potential but at this point it sort of just feels like it came out of nowhere for both of them. I know the author loves twists and stuff but she really should have hinted at the whole crush thing. Also the whole spying on her for years is really creepy 

I do however like the Eddis and Gen friendship. Also the doctor and Gen friendship too.

Uhhh not much else to say about this book other than I’m still not sure how I feel about the series. I’ll read King of Attolia, but I have a feeling I’m going to end up dnfing this series it’s really just not doing it for me 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Confinement, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Kidnapping, Grief, and Medical trauma