Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Empire of the Damned - Holtbirodalom by Jay Kristoff

19 reviews

trissmaximoff93's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

Citando a mi amadísima Dior Lachance, "FUCK MY FACE".
No le pongo más de 5 estrellas porque Storygraph no me deja, pero sin duda va a ser mi mejor lectura del año, tengo muchas pruebas y cero dudas.
Reseña pendiente para cuando sea capaz de digerir la maravilla que he leído (y llorado) 🖤🖤🖤
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freckleface3's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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sarainfantasyland's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is one of the most stressful books I've ever read. Most fantasy I read, even epic and high fantasy, have the "oh my god I'm so scared whats gonna happen" mosts then their balanced with some calmer moments. This - I was on edge the entire book. It's a quieter scene but... who is coming out of the bushes to murder everyone? Please don't let this happen. Maybe it won't. It does. But its nothing like I imagined. It equally makes it very engaging but exhausting. I still had an amazing time. 

I was a bit worried how the format would follow up to the first with switching back and forth between Gabriel's past and.. further past. But the next twist
of having Celene's POV
was surprising and yet a great follow up.
I always wondered if she was still alive and wanted to know more about her. She's fascinating and infuriating all at once.
 

Gabriel's sister Celene added such an interesting dynamic to the main cast. No idea if I love or hate her. Her hatred for her brother seems so unfounded because everything that happened to her, he had no control of and it seems absurd to blame him.
Also still not sure if I trust the Esani.
Gabriel himself continues to grow in depth. And I remain immensely curious how he ended up where he presently is. And just HOW he killed the Forever King. His relationship with Dior is wonderful and shows the complexity of a father/daughter dynamic. The war between a teen girl wanting independence and a father's need to get them to listen when he knows better. Despite being a rash and slightly arrogant girl, Dior more than proved her mental in this one. She was the one I was most stressed about. Likely because she's the only main character where we're uncertain of her fate.
The ENDING has me stressed and hopeful. Her imprisonment by the Dyvok's was terrifying. Not knowing if she would be thralled or how she would escape.
And AARON. I'm furious. My favorite character and he's just being TORTURED.
I'm devastated he's Dead. And for what he was forced to endure. His scenes where by far the most disturbing to read. I do have hope for him but you can't cure being a vampire...


The action and worldbuilding continue to be a highlight. Going even deeper into the politics of a vampire clan. Understanding more aspects and history of the empire before daysdeath. The moonmaid/shapershifter culture was my favorite bits. To see how every type of magic has been effected by daysdeath. Also the deepening of the religion itself.
I lost my MIND when it was revealed that the Redeemer himself created the vampires of the Priests who murdered him.
The battle at the end was by far the best part of the book. So many moving pieces and plot twists that were executed so well. I cannot tell you how much I love a book that uses character/lore/worldbuilding/plot in balance. And Jay has that talent in abundance. 

I'm still so curious where the present timeline is going.
What do the Chastain's want and think they can do with the Grail? It obvious humans are becoming scarce. How are they going to deal with that? What is Gabriel's role? Will daysdeath end since it seems that Dior is alive in the present? How does she end it? What is the next book about and how accurate are Celene and Gabe's stories since they are clearly lying about Dior to the Historian?
Such an intricate web and I love it. I know it'll be years before I get the next book but I hope I can remember enough not to have to reread again when the time comes. 
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thebookkeepers's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

This was so hard for me to review! I'm a huge Jay Kristoff fan and his storytelling is phenomenal. This book however was very hard for me (personally) as someone who doesn't like to read heavy gore or animal death scenes. This book was HEAVY with some dark elements and it's hard to say I enjoyed reading it because of that. However, I do love the characters and see the reason for making this book as dark as it was for the plot. I enjoy Gabriel's POV chapters the most because he usually adds humor that helps lighten the tone. A few portions of this book were predictable for me, but there were still lots of reveals that literally made my jaw pop open. Overall, I do enjoy this series and will for sure be reading book 3! While I may reread book 1, book 2 will be one I skip for future rereads haha. 

LGBTQ+ rep: lots of sexual fluidity within the world including m/m and f/f relationships 
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jessie_the_bibliophile's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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

5.0

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charles237's review against another edition

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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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itisnatal's review against another edition

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

4.25

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kayceeisbookish's review against another edition

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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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pinknoface's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I skimmed a lot of this, I liked the 1st and 2nd part, and the last, the middle was a lot of unnecessary stuff. This clearly suffers from 2nd book syndrome, the story kinda lost itself, the characters do a lot of stuff that doesn't make sense for the character. The plot is still good, but the dragging, the eternal dragging for 300 pages.
I truly think that it wasn't necessary for half of the cast to be sexually assaulted, Dior is 17. The things that happen in the castle are no necessary to the plot,it was giving torture p*rn. I was gonna give this book 4* but knocked off, 1 just for those scenes, and another for the dragging
This book is an example that shock value doesnt make a good read nor does it make the reader delighted that a book has decived you. 
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