Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Nuncanoche by Jay Kristoff

29 reviews

whenjessreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

3.5

I loved this book, I really did. I was expecting some sort of mild YA dark academia (why did I think this? I do not know) and what I got was a punch in the face of serious fantasy. It was surprising, refreshing, and after the first 100 pages or of set up the pacing was great and the characters intriguing. 

The excessive metaphor was something I liked, although occasionally I had to read a phrase over a few times for comprehension.

The footnotes that the author used gave me flashbacks to the Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud - adding humour and small infodumps via an unknown narrator. I do find them slightly jarring when trying to read a story smoothly, but if that’s the author’s style, what can you do? 😅

From what I can gather, this book is either loved or hated. The author is Australian - you can tell - and that’s pretty representative of the how the Australian personality is received in general.😅😂 This book was also pretty strong with the male gaze, although it wasn’t enough that it made me stop reading.

The one thing I will point out as being problematic is the author’s representation of Māori ta moko, or facial tattoos. Though Kristoff has said he didn’t intend for people to make that comparison, as someone of Māori heritage (though that should be irrelevant), I felt a bit uncomfortable reading it. I think without this I would have rated a 4 😊

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Cursing, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, and Cultural appropriation

srandazza's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective medium-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

5.0

This book was absolutly amazing!!! At first the footnotes were annoying but after a while I got used to them. The story itself was ingenious in its intricate plot, fun characters, and mysteries. The ending left me wanting more yet satisfied. I wish I read it sooner but at the same time I'm glad I waited because now by the time I get to Godgrave, Darkdawn will have already have been released. Overall a 4.9 out of 5 stars. The only reason it isn't a full five stars is beacause the footnotes pull you out if the story a little. #nevernight #stabstabstab

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Blood, and Death of parent

katyfortner's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

It took me a while to really get into this book. It started off really dingy and definitely look at the trigger warnings before reading this because it was triggering right off the bat. I do think the narration was true to what an assassin would probably have to think especially from what the MC had to face and go through at such a young age. I would say that 50% of this book was very lacking but the last half to last third of the book really made up for it. Also, I thought the footnotes were a kind of weird addition the author made.. not really sure how I feel about them, but I am leaning towards not liking them.
 

I was really gutted that the love interest, Trix got killed off. I knew there had to be a twist coming up but I was really hoping that would not have been the case. Also, I knew something was off about Ash when she kept hinting that Mia should not stay there and when the obvious antagonists kept swearing up and down that they didn't kill Lottie. I knew something was off but I really liked that Mia finally had a girl-friend and was able to connect with someone along with the relationship she started with Trix.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Slavery

emesfiz_28's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Vomit

_piercingwords_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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

4.75

I am in love with the descriptive writing style and the sassy humour in this. The world is incredibly well built, the characters as well.
While the many footnotes could be very entertaining, they interrupted the reading flow a bit at times.
I'm definitely gonna get the other books of the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Gore, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Toxic friendship

rena_rena's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexism

kittykaz's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Despite what this extraordinarily pretentious narrator keeps telling us, both the plot and the protagonist were almost painfully transparent in its forced gruesomeness. If Kristoff had let the world and his prose speak for itself, I would have loved the gloomy atmosphere of the lurking shadows under the mountains. Now, and especially with the distracting amount of footnotes, this effect got buried under the evidence of his efforts.
Still, the skill was definitely there, and I am happy to give the rest of the series a chance to catch up on the promises that weren't met here.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Excrement, Vomit, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

mollytotten's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Cursing, Torture, and Blood

Minor: Child death

gabberette'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

4.0

Shocking, violence, young heroine, revenge, death, religion

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Drug use, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

commander_zander's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious 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

Freaking great.

This is a R-rated YA-style book about young assassins. It's irreverent, unapologetic, & very extra. The characters are largely amoral, which is refreshing. It has lots of gratuitous violence & jokes about sexual violence. If that sounds off-putting then skip this book.

If you like YA books that are weird & extra, you might love this. What i love about this book is its passionate enthusiasm, its overflowing love for the Red Church, its charisma, & its surprisingly great plot twists.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Cursing, Rape, and Sexual assault