Reviews with content warning for Violence - Dunkelheit

This series gets better as you go but PLEASE check the content warnings and avoid if necessary! These triggers are FAST and FURIOUS, people, so proceed with caution.

Content Warnings

eng2's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark slow-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

3.5

This whole book is a giant cliff hanger, so prepare for some disappointment at the end or to sign up for several books I guess

Content Warnings

faerie123's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

mazzreads86's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.5

It's tough to review this book, I have read the entire Black Jewels series and so my opinion of this first book is coloured by my thoughts on the entire series.
There is definitely some major content warnings that readers need to be aware of ahead of time, and I think that they are somewhat reflective of the time it was written (late 90's) - not to say that rape, sexual assualt, and paedophilia weren't a big deal at the time, but that writers weren't as aware of how problematic including those topics in their books could be.
I definitely wouldn't recommend this to anyone under 18 to read, and would make sure to warn anyone that there are some quite graphic descriptions included, I definitely skip over those sections when I reread.
Getting past all that, the basic story is really interesting and the characters are wonderful, especially as you move in to the next 2 books and beyond (one of my favourite characters is introduced in book 2 - kiss kiss!). I think that Jaenelle & Daemon's relationship is actually the least interesting/likeable, and is somewhat problematic, but the rest are fantastic.

Content Warnings

kbookish's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

mlcutter's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

3 stars because it is very well written, but it is so hard to read I can't recommend it to anyone ever. So, if you read this, it is at your own risk.

I have so much to say about this book. Some spoilers.

The good:
It's well written
The world building is phenomenal
The characters are fleshed out, even the evil ones
It is unique

The bad:
There are sooo many characters!
A child is badly abused and there is too much detail
There are sex slaves
Adults are badly abused and there is too much detail
There are so many just plain evil characters, it's hard to imagine anyone that awful and you wind up hoping that everyone is murdered in awful ways because they're so terrible.

The black jewel trilogy, which is now a whole series of books written by Anne Bishop, are HARD. TO. READ. These are not light, they're not easy, there is no comic relief. They're dark. DARK, with a capital D. The people who have magic are born to a jewel. Depending on a color, they can be powerful. Black jewel holders are the most powerful. The queens are powerful and terrible. They're jealous, petty, petulant, conniving, and willing to do whatever they have to do to hold power. There is a promise of a queen that will rule well, she will fix what is wrong. She is a child of 12 in this book. She is innocent and naive but the most powerful ever to be born. Everyone wants to either protect her or kill her or break her so she is unable to use her power. Because no one understands her, it is assumed she is unwell.

There is some fascinating imagery that makes me wonder if Anne Bishop struggles with mental illness. There are the "twisted lands" which we come to know as a place where the mind has been broken. She describes the mind as a chalice and once its broken, it has to be repaired before the person is whole again, but it is fragile.

I don't think abuse has to be spelled out. It's too hard to read. I think it was done better in the Shaye Archer series by Jana DeLeon. you get enough glimpses that you know Shaye has suffered, but you don't get the gory details.

All in all, I want to never read this book again. not sure I will continue the trilogy. I will stick to my favorite Bishop books The Others series, which is a unique take on shapeshifters and one of my favorite series ever.

Content Warnings

More...