Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan

7 reviews

seforana's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

thecriticalreader's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.25

 

Context:

I borrowed The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan from my library through the Libby App.

 

Review:

The Justice of Kings worked for me, due in large part to the refreshingly unique way Swan frames the novel. The obvious choice would have been to follow Vonvalt’s perspective, but instead, the book follows the retrospective POV of his clerk, nineteen-year-old Helena. This choice would have been disastrous if he had used Helena merely as a device through which to focus on Vonvalt; however, in my opinion, her character is well-written and adds considerable texture to the story. Helena is a realistic example of what would happen if you follow a nineteen-year-old clerk in a fantasy novel rather than the stereotypical protagonist with “main character syndrome.” She’s smart and eager to please, but also self-centered, moody, and occasionally rash. She makes a lot of mistakes due to her youth and inexperience. She’s limited by her gender, emotional vulnerability, and social position, but she also demonstrates agency and initiative. I also liked that she responded to situations of danger and violence with a realistic level of terror and horror; it's not often that we get to read about a protagonist who panics instead of automatically acting like a hero. While I can understand why some might consider her character to be sexist, Helena reminds me of myself when I was a nineteen-year-old girl—especially in how she confuses the overwhelming awe, affection, and dependency she feels toward the older male figures in her life for potential romantic feelings.

Her whirlwind romance with the first attractive boy she befriends made sense to me in the context of her upbringing and situation.

 

Helena is a fascinating character in her own right, but her perspective allows us to gain a unique understanding of those around her, particularly Vonvalt. The depth of love and admiration she has for him—despite an intimate knowledge of his flaws—provides new layers to his character development as he faces a new world in which his nearly overwhelming power is suddenly threatened. Through her eyes, the themes of justice and power that this book explores gain added meaning.

 

Beyond the wonderfully crafted character development, Swan demonstrates competent worldbuilding and plot development in The Justice of Kings. The magic system is limited, and the world is not as expansive as some epic fantasy series, but Swan smartly focuses on building a strong story instead of throwing a large number of names, places, and exposition at the reader. As the plot gradually builds to a gripping crescendo, Swan opens the door for greater worldbuilding and plot development in future books. Overall, The Justice of Kings impressed me, and I plan on picking up the second book soon.

 

The Run-Down: 

You will probably like The Justice of Kings if . . . 

·      You want to read a story with well-written characters and a gripping plot

·      You like medieval-inspired fantasy

·      You want to read a fantasy story through the lines of a non-traditional protagonist

 

You might not like The Justice of Kings if . . .

·      You are not in the mood for a very dark and violent book

·      You don’t want to read a book from the perspective of a moody teenage girl 

·      You want to read a fantasy story with epic, colorful worldbuilding

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, and War

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Classism

fran's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Murder, and War

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Sexism, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, and Death of parent

_qwert'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? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Murder, and War

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Racism

wishbea's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

Starts out as a murder mystery, which quickly becomes an empire ending threat. Justice Konrad is a very mysterious character and as the story is told from the POV of his apprentice/clerk Helena as an older woman we get to see his character shift and what seems to be the start of a moral decline from an outside POV. Helena herself is very dull and a victim of insta-love unfortunately, she has no idea what she wants in life, her streetrat orphan background is barely relevant to her character, and for some reason older Helena stands by her insta-love as her "first true love". Sir Radomir develops into a wonderfully charismatic character by the end of the book and the climax makes for a compelling start to this trilogy. I will be reading the sequel and hoping for better characterisation for Helena.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Grief, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, and Fire/Fire injury

ohmage_resistance's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Medical content, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Rape, and Alcohol

ideal_casie's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism and Mental illness

Minor: Child death and Grief