Reviews tagging 'Death'

Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik

10 reviews

ladypalutena's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.25

The fourth book in the Temeraire series opens with Laurence and Temerarie setting out to find a cure for the sickness that has taken hold of all the dragons in England. It reads, again, as one of those side quest episodes that happen when the main storyline needs to catch back up with itself, but the whole thing is a rush from start to finish. 

A lot of things happen, and it happens quickly, but as I've mentioned in previous reviews for these books, sometimes the descriptions of things are a little lacking. At one point, a man goes down under a bayonet to save another, and I assumed, for all that has happened, that the first man was dead. No, a few chapters later, it is revealed that he in fact survived the fatal bayonet blow and recovered very well. Every single description regarding this man up until this point let me believe that he was dead. It was very unclear.

Laurence's life continues to fall apart in this book,

and by the end of it, he is marching towards England from France, being returned to them as a traitor, though Napoleon himself begged Laurence to stay and not return.

Every time I finish a book, I'm left with the feeling of "Well, where do they go from here?" and the next book brings something even worse for the reader. 

I've got a bit of a wait before the next in the series is available, so we'll see what happens when I get there.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Medical content, Death, Colonisation, Slavery, and Vomit

theinkwyrm's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

I think this has been my favorite in the series so far since the first one. I loved how we got to learn more about the dragons and how they exist in different environments and circumstances. The only thing is I’m not sure where the whole story arc with Moshueshue and the African dragons is going and how it will interact with the war already going on. Also, I’m a little worried about the cliffhanger at the end of this book, since I have a couple of ideas about how it could play out in the next book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Slavery, and Death

apersonfromflorida's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, and Death

Moderate: Blood, Violence, and Animal death

Minor: Genocide, Vomit, and Pregnancy

readingelli's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Death, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Vomit, Racism, and War

Colonialism, imperialism

emeraldrina's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective 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

4.5

Another page turner! Much more exciting than the last book in the series, with a lot more character development all around. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Trafficking, Pregnancy, Colonisation, Blood, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Animal death, Vomit, and Violence

sapphicsoilscientist's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

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

3.5

Still working my way through the series, but this one has been my least favorite. I know a lot of what happens is setting up for other things later, but the overall feel of the book is very different from the previous ones. I think this is because they are not very engaged with what is happening in England.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Slavery

Moderate: Death

szuum's review

adventurous emotional slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Colonisation, Slavery, Death, Kidnapping, and Racism

Moderate: Sexism and Misogyny

Minor: Pregnancy

rini's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Racism, Slavery, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Blood

Minor: Cannibalism

s_macdonald's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Slavery

Moderate: Violence

chrissyssoul's review

adventurous reflective sad slow-paced

• 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

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Violence, Terminal illness, Slavery, and Racism

It is a historical war fiction, so there is viilence and death of both human and dragons. Also, this book deals with slavery throughout and with slavery comes a level of racism.