Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Godkiller by Hannah Kaner

58 reviews

ellius's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.


Ok so calming the fuck down, I absolutely loved this book.

The characters were so intricate and enthralling, their motivations were so interesting and I was so conflicted with my support of some people but still routing for them.

The world building was magnificent and even though I hate 'we're travelling to find magic in a fantasy story' stories I was still so invested.

This is seriously a 5 star book. And I loved the casual queer rep.

Unfortunately I can't talk about anything else because of spoilers but I loved every single aspect of this. I literally hate fantasy stories but I loved all the fantasy tropes in this. This book and the sequel are literally the only fantasy books on my shelf for reference on my interest in fantasy. 

But I seriously loved this and I can't wait to see what happens next.



9.7/10. The gay agenda is winning and it's being led by Vi from Arcane 2.0 (no offence, love them both, I just couldn't stop picturing her as Vi😭😭😭😭)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Classism

Minor: Ableism

kmedusa's review against another edition

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual content

woolerys's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? No

4.5

Writing - 4/5 

Plot - 4/5 

Characters - 5/5 

World-building - 4/5 

Personal tastes - 5/5 

TOTAL: 4.4 

 

The pacing is a snowball effect, with a slow start but by the end all the disparate threads come together for an epic finale (at least 0.5 points of my rating come exclusively from Kissen's ending specifically—so good!). I really liked the characters and their relationships, which develop in a series of fits and starts as they want more and more to like and trust each other and yet have trouble doing so (understandably, given each person’s secrets and background). Skedi especially strikes a good balance between sympathetic and cute, and mildly terrifying. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Child abuse and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death and Trafficking

huntress's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

sn8man's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and War

Minor: Physical abuse and Trafficking

no_evil_star's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Violence, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death and Panic attacks/disorders

estock36's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

Loved the action scenes when they were present! I wish I liked the characters more. They were definitely multi layered. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, War, and Classism

reddeddy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Death, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Torture, and Pregnancy

alloftaysreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

wordsareworlds's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

2.5

I saw a quote from Kaner that said that at its core, this book is a quest. Which is exactly the same as its surface and the end of that quest does not exist in this book. 

I was hoping for a book that had a lot more going on with the commentary on the relationships between the characters, and the society as a whole and Kaner's unique approach to gods here. I wanted more on every level, and instead what I got was simplistic characterizations with a ton of repetition and no reflection on how characters get from point to point emotionally on their Epic Quest. 

For all that Godkiller is much more character focused than action action oriented, Kaner fails to give those characters enough layers to hold the weight of page count. Instead we're subjected to the most awkward and author-forced romance between two characters, which I have the sneaking suspicion was only included to satisfy the "but is there spice" question. The overall worldbuilding does not hold up to even a cursory glance, and there was "redemption" moment for Skeddy that only works if you forget the core of his and Inara's relationship

is that their lives are linked so if she dies, he dies. Him saving her life with that in play absolutely does not balance him manipulating her with his powers for years and then literally taking over her body against her will

. The plot itself is by-the-numbers, and the major twist at the end will not be a surprise to anyone who has ever read a fantasy book ever.

On the other hand, there's Kissen. Kissen is the absolute epitome of my own personality and the brand of character I play in ttrpgs. I love her. She's standoffish but desperately wants to have her (found) family close and safe, she throws herself into violence with a wild abandon that is not always backed up by her skill level, but is by her will. The depiction of her disability and physical pain felt incredibly well done. She deserved a better book, but yes I will subject myself to book 2 just to read more about her. 

Read this if you want to read about Kissen and can turn your brain off for pretty much the entire rest of the book. Otherwise just pick up one of the many other, better fantasy books that include characters going on a quest to save themselves but end up finding out they have to save everyone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Violence, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Moderate: Self harm