Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor

13 reviews

amberacks12's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.75

I stand by what I’ve said before about Laini Taylor’s writing: it’s beautiful, lyrical, so imaginative, unique, and immersive. I really love Lazlo, the godspawn, and for some reason, Thyon Nero. The world she has crafted is magical and while I’m in the book I feel as if I’m in the world, not just reading about it. 
There are a few things keeping me from giving this a perfect five stars. They are nitpicky and not a big deal, but worth trying to explain I think. 
The first is that for some reason much of the storyline in this book felt superfluous. It felt almost as if the first and second books could possibly have been condensed into one. Maybe that’s because not a lot actually happened in Muse of Nightmares. 
The second is that I felt very stressed the whole time I was reading this. I think maybe because of the state of one of the characters made it feel as if there couldn’t possibly be a happy way to end it. 
Third is the side characters weren’t developed enough. We spent a lot more time with them in the first book, and I wish they’d gotten more screen time in this one. 
And finally I think despite how terrible some of the things a couple of the characters went through, it seemed they “got over” their issues rather quickly, and everything got resolved in ways that felt too easy. 
Despite these criticisms I did really love this book and I’m glad I’ve finally worked up the courage to read it. 

Enjoyment: 4.75
Emotional impact: 5
Educational value: n/a
=4.8

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Pregnancy, and Colonisation

errie's review against another edition

adventurous dark

• Strong character development? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Genocide, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent

Minor: Self harm

bethfern04's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Blood

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

lanid's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, and Blood

Minor: Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Suicide

brindlecat's review

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Child death and Suicide

Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Rape, Self harm, and Kidnapping

laneys_library's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

I LOVE IT!!! So much better than first! One of my now favorite books!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Genocide, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

doodeedoda's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Self harm, Sexual content, Blood, and Death of parent

chantellimus's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective fast-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: Child death, Confinement, Death, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Abandonment, and War

Minor: Racism, Self harm, Sexism, and Lesbophobia

escapismforlife's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This was a wild ride. It's full of new self-discovery  for each of the characters. But also for the city of Weeps evolution of a better future. It took several  turns and I loved every second  of it.

Also I read  the Daughter of Smoke and Bone triology before this and was so excited  to see how this duology  world intertwined in this series. 
Also how cool Sarai's, Sparrow, and Nova's gift are after they change for better or worse.
Not to mention the fact that  Kora is Korako. Not to mention Rook, Warren and Kiska who are the most badass characters  reveals ever.

 This is one of the best  sequel  fantasy  books ever. Laini Taylor is a fantastic YA  author.  I felt a whole lot in the second half of February  reading this and wish I'd  done it sooner. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, and Murder

dariusmortee's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

Although I did like this one less than the first one, it’s still a really good book. Taylor hits some very delicate topics which I do there should be clearer trigger warnings for in front of the book so that people who do have trigger, can be warned before diving in. 

In general this duology worked really well for me because of the almost philosophical undertone in this carefully crafted fantasy world. I like how the books give freedom to believe that there’s all kinds of worlds existing next to eachother. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Colonisation

Moderate: Abortion