Reviews tagging 'Trafficking'

Shadows Return by Lynn Flewelling

3 reviews

the_real_al_cal's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Wow. Okay, so before I started this book, I spoiled myself on some of it by reading the other reviews, and I have to say, I completely agree with the assessments that this book is basically a bunch of different literary tropes in a trenchcoat. But at the same time... I kind of loved it. I thought I would hate it, but where book three in the series took me a month to finish, this one took me three days. I could not put it down.

Don't get me wrong, the tropes are definitely overdone at this point but Flewelling has a way of breathing new life into them through the tactile nature of her world's magic systems. To be honest, sometimes it still put me off and I was originally going to rate this a 3.5 or 4, but the last few pages really brought the entire story together so neatly that I actually gasped at the surprise revelation at the end:

Finding out from Magyana that Sebrahn is dragon-like! What does it mean?!

What struck me right away is how much Flewelling's writing style changed between book 3's release in 1999 and book 4's release in 2008. Neither style is bad, and I enjoy both a lot, but it was very noticeable! I would say the earlier three had more of a classically-rosy style similar to Robin Hobb or George R.R. Martin. Book 4's style felt very fluid and was easier for me to read (because my attention span is garbage these days), but perhaps more along the lines of the quick action/short descriptions that a lot of popular authors follow these days. Again, neither is bad, and I inhaled this book all the same.

At the end of the day, I enjoy these stories because I enjoy the characters. They have all come such a long way from book 1, thanks to Flewelling's masterful character development. Where I enjoyed the characters before, now I feel invested in what they will do next.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Torture, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Trafficking

Moderate: Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Excrement, Vomit, and Xenophobia

tinyelfarcanist's review

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

You can tell almost a decade went by between the previous book and this one was published. There are some continuity mistakes and a time jump where nothing seemed to change.

I liked going into this without reading the summary as it kind of spoils a twist that turns the book's direction. It's darker than the previous ones but not as graphic as Stalking Darkness.

I wouldn't recommend waiting long after Traitor's Moon as some of the characters mentioned there are still relevant. New characters are introduced and some threads are left open for the rest of the saga.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Confinement, Slavery, Rape, Torture, and Trafficking

Moderate: Child abuse and Child death

Minor: Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Animal death, and Suicide

charlieleelee's review

adventurous dark tense fast-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Kidnapping, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Suicide, and Toxic relationship