Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Gild, by Raven Kennedy

45 reviews

bangiebangs's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This was dark. Darker than I expected tbh, so heed the CNs - this has a lot of uncomfortable elements. 

Spoiler

The fact that the king's harem are called "saddles", or that this is also the term for any sex worker ("wh*re" is used a lot) isn't the worst, but there are scenes very close to rape, and one that is a quite detailed rape scene).

The one thing that bothers me the most is the relationship between Auren and the king tbh. I'm not on bord with seeing this as anything but exploitative.

Spoiler

In the backstory, we learn that they started their relationship when he rescued her from an abusive situation (sexual trafficking is implied), and they start a relationship when she is 15 and he is "seven years older". Even if the story picks up 10 years later than that, this still makes this something that starts as an adult/minor pairing... so her sexual desire for him... ew.

I found the pacing a little uneven as it takes a long time to set the scene: I was more than 100pp in before I felt this picking up steam or having much of a story- this is an issue throughout. While there are some nice minor twists in there I think this book mainly sets up the second one and does some basic world-building. Also some serious emotional gut-punch moments, so yeah, this one is not exactly uplifting. 

This is also not a romance, dark or otherwise. There is no romance in this book. Maybe the next? But if you're looking for dark romantasy spice... this ain't it.

Be aware that this ends in a cliffhanger. 
Spice level wasn't there for me - there is a lot of sexual content, but the way it's described doesn't really do much for me. Not that every book needs this, but in this one the sex is so often mixed with abuse or dubious (/absent) consent that it's not exactly something I can enjoy.

All in all, a dark but enticing read, though one that will might make you uncomfortable at times. I'll continue with the series and see how it goes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Rape, Confinement, Death, Sexual assault, Cursing, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Bullying, Misogyny, Slavery, Kidnapping, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: War

clemway's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Death, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexism, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Blood, Kidnapping, Infidelity, and Death

midnacine's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Third time reading the series, first time listening to the audiobook. My initial review is somewhere on here. But can I just say the male narrator (Blake Lockhart) is absolute perfection. He only read one chapter and yet I'm in love with him. I can't wait to hear him as [redacted] in the later books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Confinement, Kidnapping, Murder, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Sexual content, Classism, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/injury detail, Blood, Cursing, and Gaslighting

Minor: Trafficking, Animal death, War, and Death of parent

bekahzabel's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

Originally I rated this 3.25/5⭐️
But after completing the series up to its current book. I realize how much of a masterpiece this first book was with world building and setting the premise for the remainder of the series. 
Changing my rating to 
4.0/5✨, because this is not a series to be missed. 

OG review:

I’m not giving up on this series because I do hear it gets better… By the end I was *mildly* looking forward to what’s going to happen next, but honestly this was a bit challenging to read at times. There definitely should be a TW in the beginning, I think they do give one on amazon but whoa, shit got a little graphic, dark, and intense in there. Strong female lead, of course we love that, and the imagery of the setting sounds magical… but there were some really dark scenes throughout. And it also dives RIGHT in, I knew this was adult content from page one, and not in a “ooh this will be smutty” way. 

Spoiler

Also if the love interest ends up being Midas I might go brazy brazy that guy is not doing it for me

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Slavery

micaelamariem's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense 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

3.0

This book was well written with an intriguing plot and great worldbuilding that had me flirting through chapters. However, there was too much on page sexual violence that we were only sometimes supposed to abhor as readers. The main character definitely has Stockholm syndrome and I don’t think that’s going to be addressed. I’m just so afraid we’ll see more toxic relationships develop as the series goes on but perhaps something will surprise me! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, War, Gore, Violence, Blood, Injury/injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Bullying, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Alcohol, Classism, Murder, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Sexual content

Moderate: Alcoholism and Grief

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Infertility, Colonisation, and Death of parent

shannonhaleyy's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No

4.0

i’m definitely intrigued! the world building was not confusing and easy to follow. I cannot wait to read the second book with how this one ended. 

content warnings for rape, attempted rape, abuse, violence, stockholm syndrome, murder and blood. pls be careful with this book. chapter 36 has the rape scene.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse and Rape

Moderate: Violence, Blood, and Murder

katvou's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death, Injury/injury detail, Rape, Violence, Kidnapping, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Alcohol and Slavery

Minor: Bullying, Grief, Animal death, Vomit, Excrement, War, Blood, and Gore

lindsfranfrat's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, War, Death, Sexual content, Vomit, Gaslighting, Trafficking, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual violence, Blood, Violence, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

extinctpanda's review against another edition

This book was literally just so disgusting. The world building essentially amounted to violence against women.

Spoiler

it literally opens with an orgy where the king is fucking his harem, where the women are called saddles. I think that pretty much sums it up

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Sexism, Alcohol, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Rape, Emotional abuse, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, and Alcohol

Minor: Child abuse and Trafficking

chloekaspari's review against another edition

DNF for me. This is *not* comparable to ACOTAR, TOG or FBAA. I stopped reading because I felt the writing was juvenile and more suitable for a YA audience (if you take out the s*x slave portion). Yes there is some 🌶 but it’s graphic and unrealistic. Be warned this is written from the perspective of a girl who very clearly has Stockholm syndrome. There was also an extreme lack of creativity and world building. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Blood