Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley

28 reviews

fantasythat's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Absolutely devoured this book. Read it on a recommendation from a friend and it was incredible, some of the imagery did feel a bit clunky and blatant to begin with but once the action started I was focusing a lot less on how things were being said. The characterisation is honestly outstanding, they're all so wonderfully complicated and there are moments where the narration falls with most of them, so you get a really good insight into motivations. Compelling storyline that had me guessing the solution at every page. Wish I could read it for the first time again, but will definitely be reading it again in future. Big fan of the sea setting, too.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Violence

Minor: Suicide

cleot's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Self harm, Slavery, Torture, Sexual harassment, and War

nofys's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad 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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Slavery, Murder, and War

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

maeverose's review against another edition

4.0

This would be a solid 5 stars if it weren’t for one  thing that rubbed me the wrong way…

That  being the way Kite murdered Frank and everyone just kinda forgot about it. Like that made him irredeemable to me. I would’ve loved the whole romance plot line and been totally happy with the ending if it weren’t for that one thing. If the author is autistic I’d be willing to look past it, even though I still think it was an odd choice, but if she’s allistic that gives me the ick. The way he was physically restrained, slapped and literally murdered while having a meltdown? Just to keep Joe from remembering who he was. That is not justified on Kite’s part. At all. And Joe just seemingly forgets about it after a while??

I also didn’t love some of the ways the author described Kite’s scarring and Clay’s disfigurement and ‘childlike’ behavior from his trauma. It could just be Joe’s/Kite’s thoughts not the author’s, but it bothered me a bit. It wasn’t horrible though.

Otherwise I really liked this book. I heard someone suggest it as a book similar to The Binding (which I also liked until I found out the author was a terf), and this definitely has a similar feel to The Binding, though a pretty different plot. I knew very little going in and I think that’s the best way to read it. Despite how mostly negative this review is I would recommend this if the synopsis sounds intriguing. Just check content warnings!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual content, Blood, and Medical content

Minor: Ableism, Fatphobia, and Racism

graphic: Amnesia, Intrusive Thoughts, minor: Eugenics

lizzie24601's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.5

God, Natasha Pulley knows how to tell a story!!!!!! She uses the same trope in all of her books and I gobble it up every time! And as a fan of stories set on ships in the early 19th century, this hit the spot. I would read a whole series about Joe and Kite. I felt out of breath reading this because I was so excited to get to the next chapter. Ugh!! Incredible character building and a suspenseful relationship and plot. 

Half a star taken off only because the opening is so slow - until you get to part 3 and it takes OFF. If you haven't read a Natasha Pulley book before, read The Watchmaker of Filigree Street or The Bedlam Stacks before this one - they both are better introductions to her writing style since they start off a bit quicker and are written more chronologically. Then come back and enjoy this one. :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting and War

Moderate: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Genocide, Self harm, Sexism, Blood, Death of parent, and Alcohol

clarabooksit's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexism, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and War

Moderate: Slavery, Xenophobia, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Homophobia, Racism, and Suicide

bek_p87's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

This was an epic tale of time travel, an alternate war history, and (unexpectedly) a world-altering romance. Centring on the character of Joe, who finds himself on a train platform in the middle of French-occupied London with no memory of his life. Thus begins a complex and heart-rending search for his past, which just so happens to intertwine with - and alter the outcome of - the Anglo-French wars of 1803-1815. More than anything, though, I was struck by the love story that runs through the entire backdrop of the novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and War

Moderate: Slavery

dananana's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

THIS JUST REWIRED MY BRAIN CHEMISTRY 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Alcohol

wardenred's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

2.5

It’s your life too; you might like to start giving a fuck what happens in it.

To be honest, I was enjoying this book a lot more before the story actually started. There was that long, slow beginning about the amnesiac protagonist adjusting to a life that didn't feel like his own, and there were so many interesting, sometimes beautifully nebulous things hinted at. The mysterious "epilepsy" epidemics, the weird alternate England occupied by France. Finally, Joe's trip to that weird lighthouse on the frozen edge of the world, the tortoises in the tavern, the coming of winter from the sea. The lighthouse parts were my absolute favorite. I was looking forward to just reading an entire book about lighthouse weirdness.

But then the entire time traveling plot started unfolding, and it was all dimension hopping and murders and naval warfare and convoluted politics. The way it was all laid out, with the random switching of POVs and times, just made my head ache. On top of that, once all that action started, I realized there wasn't a single character I could root for. I simply disliked them all. Even Joe, who'd had my sympathy in the earlier chapters.

I guess The Half-Life of Valery K was a fluke, and Natasha Pulley really isn't an author for me...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Slavery, War, and Injury/Injury detail

augustar14's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, and Death of parent