Reviews tagging 'War'

The Crown of Gilded Bones by Jennifer L. Armentrout

58 reviews

_shreyasharma's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

3.25

The series started off pretty strong, but this book dragged on quite a bit. A lot of unnecessary descriptions, like why did they have to describe a shower for a whole chapter. Poppy and Cas were a whole vibe up until this book, but they got kinda cringe in this one. Love Kieran and the other wolven though. Some pretty good plot twists, which was the only reason it didn't go straight to my dnf pile

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, and War

melethwi's review against another edition

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

sophi_b's review against another edition

I just could not continue because the plot was so strung out and eventually didn't matter. Their relationship didn't either now to think about it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and War

prairieraven's review against another edition

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

cait's review against another edition

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

missgarceau's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

cnohero's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense fast-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

3.75

1/3 of the book could be edited out due to repeated  redundant scenes emphasizing how amazing
Poppy is and how much  Cass loves her. It just got to be too much 

I persevered and now I’ve got to the intense ending I HAVE to move in to the next book to find out what happens 🤷‍♀️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing

Minor: Child death, Sexism, Torture, Vomit, and War

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 against another edition

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