Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Queen of Roses by Briar Boleyn

5 reviews

phangirl's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

3.5

C - 7; A - 8; W - 6; P - 5; I - 4; L - 3; E - 1.
34/70 (49%)

I really liked the concepts in this book. It really felt like it had do much potential but imo it fell flat in every way. The writing and pacing were decent at the start, but about 60% in the grammar started to drop off and the pacing slowed down a lot for me. 

when I finished the book I was so angry about the Morgan's complete lack of agency that I couldn't s op thinking about rhe book. There is literally no point in which Morgan makes an active choice or takes any action. Eg not drinking the potion (Draven threw it away), leaving (Draven made that happen), killing Florian (self preservation but is debatable), loving/liking Vesper (he enchanted her), etc.

It's not for me. The plot and 'character development' were predictable (and I almost never make predictions while reading), which is so disappointing! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, and War

Minor: Body horror, Child death, Drug use, Pedophilia, Slavery, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, and War

linda_1863's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

Author placed listing of Trigger Warnings at the end of book. Story is a retelling of Camelot/ Excalibur/ King Arthur and the rest of the characters slightly altered. Some characters are now female. The MFC is the older sister of Arthur who was born to a Fae mother. Her father forces her to drink a potion every other night. When her father dies and Arthur becomes King his true colors come out and he increases the  abuse she has endured since her mother's death. Arthur demands she takes on the task of locating Excalibur. The trip is long and challenging. The things she is forced to endure. 
Was this a worthwhile read? Yes. I would suggest you flip to the Trigger Warning page before beginning just to prepare yourself. It really doesn't ruin anything for the reader. It may actually save some people from trauma that may set in.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Rape, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, and Stalking

Minor: Animal death and Death of parent

viselik's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I found the book quite enjoyable, and it was a quick read. I read it in about 4ish hours. I found the retelling of the story of Excalibur and King Arthur an excellent spin on the story, filled with fae and a believable world! I'm pretty interested to see where this story will go and the story of Morgan (who I totally did not call Morgana more than once).

The relationship between Morgan and Darven was interesting. Still, I did not see a spark of romantic tension between them, which was fine as I got so interested in the world and the story of the fae I forgot this was a romantasy (romance fantasy) book. 

Without going into spoiler territory, I enjoyed how Arthur was in this! I loved seeing his arc and change throughout the book, which also helped me like Darven as an excellent comparison.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Kidnapping

soniajoy98's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-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? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying, Infidelity, Slavery, Kidnapping, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

lexkazokas's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Kidnapping, and Murder

Minor: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Death of parent