Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Empire of the Damned by Jay Kristoff

5 reviews

marieby'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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Murder, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, War, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, and Slavery

sabrinz's review

dark emotional hopeful 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

4.0

Mes amis, what can I say - this is another bloody ride full of tears, terror and torn limbs, with a side helping of wholesomeness before it's wripped away again.
We continue almost seamlessly where we left off in Book 1 and Gabriel de Leon continues telling the story of "how he lost/broke the Grail" after saving Dior at San Michon from his former fellow Silversaints.
Unlike the first book, we get some more insight into Francoise, the historian, and a glimps of the machinations at the castle the Chastaines keep Gabriel. Moreover, we also get another point of view for Dior's story as (who would have guess) almost nothing goes according to plan and paths split up before they cross again.

I know, this is very vague, but I do not want to spoiler anything.
We get more details and information on the vampires, this time the Dyvoks are in the spotlight - and what can I say? They are as terrible as book 1 and Gabe's haunted memory of his time in Ossian fighting them let's us assume - and they are just as unhinged.

I can't wait to see where all this is leading and how all those things will come together in the end. Because one thing I realized when I was re-reading the first book again was that history and what actually happened can be two different things - and it all depends on who's telling the story. 

So, what of Gabe's story can we really believe and what might be ... misleading for the vampire ears wanting to hear his/Dior's story?

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Murder, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Violence, Alcoholism, War, Death, and Slavery

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Child death and Death of parent

karapillar's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Stalking, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Grief, Body horror, Violence, Child death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Torture, Abandonment, Blood, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cannibalism, Drug use, War, Murder, and Gore

Moderate: Gaslighting, Gun violence, and Child abuse

Minor: Pregnancy and Miscarriage

charles237's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Animal death, Slavery, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, War, Sexism, Body horror, Trafficking, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Grief, Physical abuse, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Addiction, and Abandonment

kayceeisbookish's review

adventurous challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Rape, Confinement, Genocide, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Murder, Blood, Grief, Gore, Alcohol, Animal death, Cursing, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Torture, Violence, Vomit, and War