Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

71 reviews

amiegold's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Vivenna has trained all of her life to marry the God King, ruler of a rival kingdom.  When her untrained sister, Siri, is sent in her place, they both are forced to reacess their roles in the conflict between the two kingdoms.  Things are not what either sister expects.  This book has a lot of world building and a very fun magic system in which each person is born with a 'breath' that, when given away or collected, can awaken inanimate objects.  

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual content and Violence

cookiecat73's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious slow-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, and Classism

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infertility, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Dementia, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Child death, Grief, and Gaslighting

anntharai's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

5.0

I hit the ground running with this one. From page one I was hooked. The characters felt real despite their utter unreality, the plot was well constructed, and excitingly readable prose. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Xenophobia

Moderate: Miscarriage, Torture, Murder, Pregnancy, and War

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Abortion

moonsaku's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

beautiful. captivating. heartbreaking. Sanderson never fails to create such astounding work. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Blood

Moderate: Death and War

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

motypeandroid's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

One star removed for having to read Blushweaver so much, half off for taking too long to develop Vivenna even tho I understand why she progresses the way she does. If this ever gets a sequel I’ll probably read it.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism, Violence, Colonisation, and Classism

iono's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Xenophobia, and Classism

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Murder, and War

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Rape, Sexual content, Blood, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

jswecu's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.5

slayed

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and War

Moderate: Confinement, Racism, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, and Pregnancy

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

This was my first book I have read from Brandon Sanderson, but I have been wanting to read a book from him for a few years. I heard him speak a few years ago at a book conference, and was immediately intrigued by his popular writing.  It may have been an ambitious undertaking for someone that does not typically read high fantasy, but I had a really great time reading this! I initially heard about this book from someone I follow online, and I thought I would give it a shot. I was very pleased to find that this book has a "graphic audiobook" to accompany it, and I had such a wonderful time listening to "Warbreaker"! I did not know this was a type of audiobook offered, but I hope to find more like it in the future!
This story follows a few different points of view, but the main points of interest are two sisters who are princesses. One of them is to marry the God King, and the other sister sets off on an adventure to save her sister from a predestined fate. The God King is a silent and misunderstood man who is harboring his country's secrets. Will the sisters be reunited and will they be able to stop a seemingly inevitable war?
I did not know what to expect when I started this book, but from the first chapter I was sucked into this story. I 100% recommend the graphic audiobook, if you want to pick this up. The graphic audiobook is full cast, offers dramatic character readings, and has sound effects to accompany the story. I was a little worried that this fantasy book would be a little too political for my taste because it highlights two countries that are on the brink of a war, but I think the conflict was written in an entertaining way, and there was not too much discussion about politics that I would have been bored by. As this story is centralized around a forced marriage, there is a little romance weaved into the violence and betrayal. I think the romance offered a nice balance of "niceness" in a story that could have been much more bloody. 
I think this book has a little bit for everyone: love, betrayal, war, politics, violence, friendship, and a huge adventure. I definitely look forward to reading more from Brandon Sanderson in the future!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Sexual content

sophiasoler's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

4.25

really good, a rather abrupt ending that almost works but doesn’t quite feel complete which is a super bummer. otherwise, it’s a very thorough and well-thought out story ! slightly misses the point it spends most of the book setting up

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Religious bigotry, Murder, Toxic friendship, War, and Classism

Minor: Stalking and Gaslighting

genny's review against another edition

adventurous 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

3.75

My first Sanderson! Is this classified as adult fantasy? Because it feels very YA to me, and I don't mean that in a bad way. Maybe it's just his writing style - this ultimately felt like an easy, "light" read despite the length. Sometimes it was a little too unsubtle, particularly in Vivenna's chapters where she flat-out tells the reader how she has changed as a character. It felt like the author didn't trust the readers to figure these things out on their own. Vivenna still ended up as my favorite character, the writing just took me out of the story sometimes.

Although I found Lightsong very tiring at first (obviously that was intentional, but still, I winced when his POV came up), I grew to really like his character by the end. Nightblood though?! What an annoying sword 😩 I understand it's for comedic relief, but I found its little quips corny most of the time. I could feel my eye twitching like a cartoon character's every time it "spoke". Siri and Susebron were very sweet.

It was odd at first because Susebron is at least 50 years old, yet very childlike in some ways. I couldn't decide if he was too old or too young (mentally) for Siri 😅 They quickly felt like equals though. In other news, does Siri not know about withdrawal? The calendar method? 💀

The plot twist halfway through...man, I was bamboozled. I felt betrayed. Sanderson got me there. He got me good.

The whole point of the story was to subvert expectations, and I still got tricked. I realized that Denth was a deeper, more important character than I first thought, but I didn't suspect he was a VILLAIN! Heck, I thought he was a potential love interest for Vivenna. Man. Of course, there's another plot twist, that regarding Pahn Kahl, which was logical but didn't make as much of an impact on me. The statues turning out to be Kalad's Phantoms was very obvious.

I didn't realize there was an appendix until I finished the story. I have to admit...I couldn't be bothered to read it, or to care much about all the rules regarding Breath. 🤷🏽‍♀️ I enjoyed my time with this, I simply wasn't as amazed as I thought I'd be considering how popular Sanderson is.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Torture, Religious bigotry, and War

Minor: Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Alcohol