Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

The Crown of Gilded Bones by Jennifer L. Armentrout

56 reviews

melethwi's review

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

2.5

It was entertaining and held my attention for the most part, which is the only reason I'm rating it 2.5 stars and not lower. 

Rant review because I'm a salty lesbian lmao. 

JLA has a nasty habit of shoving massive amounts of information down readers' throats, passing it off as her MC Poppy always having a lot of questions, when the truth is she just sucks at worldbuilding. Maybe I wasn't paying close enough attention but I truly don't understand what the gods are in this world or what their purpose is. Are they just super powerful magic users??? So confusing. Seems like the rules of magic get bent at JLA's will when she needs something convenient to happen. 

Poppy, Casteel, and Rhysand from ACOTAR should get together sometime and dissertate on white feminism. This book has a lot of balls to have a black character named Tawny and then turn around and use "tawny" frequently to describe the dark color of another character's skin, whose name (Kieran) means "dark one." Just ????? What ????? Could JLA not afford a SINGLE sensitivity reader?

I really think these books would work a lot better if they would stop kidding themselves about overdramatic plot and just have the romance. As it stands, we just see Poppy and Casteel willing to kill, kill, and guess what? kill people to get revenge for the other person, but the only interactions we actually see Poppy and Casteel have either have almost no chemistry or their attraction is PURELY physical. 

I really, really cannot decide if I want to spend time from my life reading the next book. I kept going this long because I thought Poppy and Casteel might go through some sort of development, but there really isn't much to speak for. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and War

Minor: Trafficking

abicaro17's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

God this series has tanked for me. Like every other chapter had some sort of "major" revelation. I needed some consistency this book could not provide. The overused trope of Poppy being relatively innocent is getting old as hell too. I do enjoy how badass Poppy is and how much she is growing physically and emotionally but I swear this next book has to be better because I BARLEY made it through these last 50 pages. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

prairieraven's review

adventurous slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

kit_kat006's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

3.75

For the most of part of this book, I felt it the story was taking too long and it wasn't my favorite in the series. I wasn't getting the plot in this book... And (unpopular opinion - I'm sorry) I'm not a fan of spice in book in general. Yes we get it, Castell and Poppy cannot get their hand off of each other... I was about done with this book and series to be honest... The last 150 pages changes my mind completely. I was on the edge of my seat and could not get it down. I was almost screaming to my book Noooooooo! Now I cannot wait for the next book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Violence

Moderate: Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Murder

cait's review

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

alxisrae's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Confinement, Death, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

katharina90's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.5

This was harder to get through than the first two. Maybe I was starting to lose interest in the story or the pacing was a bit off, but it was boring and repetitive.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Violence

Moderate: Kidnapping

poppybos109's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

xoxo_bookishbabe's review

adventurous 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: Body horror, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Blood, Kidnapping, and War

Moderate: Infidelity and Grief

nataliebootlah's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

3.5

Reading the first three of the #fbaa series back to back has definitely made them run together, but what can you do?

It feels like Poppy went from the sheltered, hidden-away Maiden to a fierce, warrior princess real quick. 🤔 I continued to enjoy the banter between characters, introductions of new folks, and the deeper relationships continuing to be built up. But something in this one felt a bit off. I found myself taking longer and longer breaks between reading sessions. Maybe it has something to do with the truth bombs and shocking revelations Poppy was constantly going through. Who knows. What I do know is the ending definitely left me gearing up for the next book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Kidnapping