Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

Winterspell by Claire Legrand

3 reviews

currantcat's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

2.75

This book's concept had a lot of potential. I was intrigued by the reimagining of the Nutcracker but was disappointed with the first half of the book. It was hard to get into and I know Dr. Victor was supposed to be creepy, but the SA undertones of his character nearly made me DNF

(also there is a whole scene in a brothel which again nearly made me DNF, this is a YA book so nothing technically explicit happened but it was still extremely uncomfortable)

. But the second half of the book picked up a lot. Though the ending was disappointing. So, the 1/2 mark to the 3/4 mark was the best.

I ended up sympathizing more with the main villain Anise, than the love interest/secondary protagonist, Nicholas/the Nutcracker stand-in. I mean Nicholas and the royal family did genocide all the fairys during their rule. He just kind of sucked (also wanted to literally enslave Clara, even if he backtracks on this later out of nowhere), and I wish that Anise got his redemption arc. It would have been more interesting if Anise and Clara actually managed to reform Cane together and Nicholas would have been the one unable to overcome his bloodlust. It also would have made more sense as he was the one frozen in time, while Anise would have had time to grow. It also would have subverted the inspiration story in an unexpected way. Plus Anise x Clara had way more chemistry. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Drug use, Hate crime, and Murder

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Trafficking, Sexual assault, Death, Genocide, and Addiction

Minor: Sexual violence, Torture, Physical abuse, and Medical trauma

mikc's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad 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

Moderate: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, and Death of parent

Minor: War, Torture, and Sexual content

bookcaptivated's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Gore, Sexual harassment, Violence, and War

Moderate: Death of parent, Kidnapping, Drug use, Drug abuse, Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Genocide, Murder, Slavery, and Torture

Minor: Grief, Gun violence, Misogyny, and Pedophilia