Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Last Sun by K.D. Edwards

7 reviews

barometz's review

I keep trying and I just don't like urban fantasy. I feel like this book and pretty much all other UF I've read simultaneously have too much going on and not enough.

The scene that was the final nail in the coffin for me was a good example, I think.

The main character and his bodyguard were at a bar with the kid they're supposed to be taking care of, looking for information. They all order drinks when they walk in. MC wanders off to find the person who supposedly has the information, gets it, everyone's ready to leave. But then we realize the kid is in the corner on a drug trip because the bartender mixed something into his drink. The bartender's reasoning is that the kid is from the (legitimately awful) magic family that got destroyed at the beginning of the book, and fuck those people--except that the bartender also seems to understand that this child was a victim of that family.

There's no reason for him to do it, and the entire scene does nothing but slow the book down; I don't get what we're doing here and I don't really enjoy the opportunity for the bodyguard to commit a little more gratuitous violence (nor do I think it's funny or cute to slip drugs to an abuse victim without their consent!!). Besides these kinds of moments that don't seem to do anything to move the plot, there aren't a lot of spaces to digest what is important, so the entire thing is difficult for me to follow.

There's so much going on that nothing in particular seems important, which seems to be a constant theme with the entire UF genre.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Child abuse

ambientdusk's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Violence, and Trafficking

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Violence

Minor: Rape

ambientdusk's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Violence, Trafficking, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Blood

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

usually_sleep_deprived's review

adventurous dark funny sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Sexual harassment

blynecessity's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

This was much closer to Gideon The Ninth than the YA I thought this was going to be! In the best way, the NA queer fantasy/mystery genre was fun! There are a LOTTT of trigger warnings on this tho. Like a looot of explicit and graphic stuff. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Bullying, Violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual content, Torture, Kidnapping, and Sexual harassment

jjjreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Fatphobia, Gore, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

Minor: Cursing, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Self harm, Slavery, Excrement, Antisemitism, Cultural appropriation, and Alcohol

booksthatburn's review

THE LAST SUN was all wrong for me. I like witty banter and political machinations, but it felt like the interactions were constantly being explained. I made it halfway through and never felt like the protagonists were actually in any danger. There’s a tragic backstory that’s just hinted at so far, and a bodyguarding mission where they’ve just left their charge at home while they take care of other plot stuff. For all Rune talks about his lack of power, it hasn’t actually inconvenienced him or kept him from getting something done. When the seer told him to take a set of actions, he followed the advice and then everything was fine.

The tension doesn’t feel tense and I don’t like the characters enough to care whether they succeed. It’s a shame because I loved the initial problem that Mathias presents, I just wish the story was doing more with him.

It definitely doesn’t help that a bunch of the worldbuilding is themed around the Tarot, a topic with which I’m only passably familiar. If you’d like a fast-paced fantasy story with magic and guns in New Atlantis that’s themed around Tarot, give this a try. It’s just not my thing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Vomit

Minor: Child abuse, Slavery, Trafficking, and Death of parent