Reviews with content warning for Grief - The Hourglass Throne

Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Hourglass Throne by K.D. Edwards

11 reviews

gabsoulutely's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

If there was a way to rate this book more than 5 stars, I would do it. To think that this series could get any better after such a brilliant sequel, the Hanged Man. K.D. Edwards does not disappoint, with every newest addition to this series, I learn more and more about the characters and I'm left thinking wow. I never saw this plot twist coming. My expectations continued to be exceeded as I was flown through such a whirlwind of an experience. Full of a beautifully crafted mystery/thriller, Rune and his family are able to face new foes, uncover disgusting truths of their pasts, and give light to a future they fought tooth and nails for.

To say that I loved this book is the highest compliment because it was honestly still a difficult read, content wise. There are SO MANY moving parts and plots lines that could be explored. A superb magic system, with political intrigue done right and brutal societal conflicts and changes that need to be made from the inside out. Truly this series deserves a nine book in-depth explanation. I love to witness the different versions of Rune and Brand and all their found family members as they grow into better, stronger versions of themselves.

I love the 2nd generation of Rune's throne as well.

There was just enough balance of life and death in this book. I am so grateful that the pacing allowed the reader to feel how high stakes this was all while still feeling easy to follow and not rushed.

Maybe this book is my best book of 2024 because it really entertained me and I had to get through it slowly because of how well-written it was. I started feeling so attached to these little traumatized fictional characters, I cried throughout the chapters reading what they were going through.

I highly recommend this book. I'm so thankful I pushed through and continued to read this story.

Content Warnings

natroze's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.75

Content Warnings

abelh's review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

jjjreads's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

Content Warnings

pvbobrien's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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

4.25

Content Warnings

micheala's review against another edition

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4.0

This is book 3 of 9 (planned) so we got some threads tied off, but mostly seeing how introduced plot threads will eventually connect in the macro plot.

Quinn and Addam continue to be my favourite characters. I loved the character development we get for the entire found family, and especially between Addam, Rune, and Brand - watching them figure out how to keep the kids safe and happy/thriving was nice.

I would say that despite the long list of CW given by the author, this is the least graphic of the series so far. While traumatic things have been focused on each of the books, the level of discription has shifted so that it was less of a viserally unpleasant reading experience.

There was an event at the end that I'm hoping gets reversed in later books. There was also a very warm and cozy event in the epilogue that helped me feel better despite the other thing.

So far, I'm really liking this series and I'm excited to see where the rest goes.

There is an instance of misgendering - a character has recently changed their pronouns and their aunt uses the old pronoun when discussing them, and has to correct herself.

CW from author: Drugs and alcohol: depictions of narcotic side-effects, underage and non-consenual usage; Trauma and gore: PTSD / panic attacks, depictions of past events, (forced) flashbacks, torture, (suicide) bombings, child violence, blood, body horror, torn limbs, impalement, mind control; Mentions of: SA, animal death, character death, cannibalism, eye gore, COVID-19, suicide

Content Warnings

rachratesreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny 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

The Hourglass Throne 5/5

This book was a culmination of information finally coming into fruition, whilst still leaving plenty of unanswered questions for the upcoming books to explore. Because this is book 3, it’s very hard to review without spoiling parts of the previous books, so I’m going to keep it vague.

I am always enamored with KD Edwards ability to write sincere and meaningful interactions between all of the characters. Everyone is distinct, and the relationships they build feel real. KD also manages to take grim dark themes and balance them out perfectly with humor and soft scenes. I have never read a book that executes this as well as The Tarot Sequence. If the scales were tipped even a little, I honestly don’t think I’d be able to read the story, because there are parts that are brutal and painful. But KD has managed to make a book (who’s CWs alone would typically be a Big Nope from me) become what will probably be my favorite series of the year.

As a reader, KD has officially become one of my insta-buy authors. As a writer, I can not begin to express how much I look up to him and his writing. The words “masterful in his craft” come to mind.

I’m definitely rereading (and annotating) the other two books. I’ll keep y’all posted on that journey. Under the spoiler text, I will detail the content warnings for this book. If you do not want to know the specifics, please don't click on it. CW includes sexual assault, PTSD, death, misgendering.

pg. 53: a character misgenders another character. This is not meant maliciously, and is corrected immediately. pg. 235: Rune recalls his assault, specifically using the word r*pe. pg. 260: Rune tells Addam about some of the specifics of his assault. These are all details we, as the reader, learned in book 1. Beginning at pg. 235 until ~ pg. 390, Rune and Addam are caught in a time loop and sent back to the day the Sun Court was attacked. While they don't actually see what happened to Past!Rune, they know it is happening in the neighboring building. It's still very unsettling and Rune has some PTSD reactions.

Content Warnings