Reviews with content warning for Violence - Unravel the Dusk

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Unravel the Dusk by Elizabeth Lim

29 reviews

thing1's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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

4.0

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mcpopish's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

4.5

I almost DNF’d this book. I’m so glad I came back to it and gave it a second chance. It was a bit slow in the beginning and that’s where I struggled, but as the story progressed it picked up, and in the end, it was worth the read. Lim really builds such a beautiful setting for this duology, and Edan is a top 10 male lead, for sure.

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chrisljm's review against another edition

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adventurous 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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queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? No

3.5

3.5⭐ CW: violence, death

Unravel the Dusk by Elizabeth Lim is book 2 of the Blood of Stars duology. I've been having a really hard time with sequels in duologies lately. It's not that I don't like them, it's more that they don't grab me in the same way as the first book did. I can't even really put my finger on why.

We catch up with Maia after the events in book one. Maia struggles with her transition into becoming a demon along with using the powers of Amana's dresses. It definitely felt like Maia is surrounded by enemies: the emperor, who is cold and cruel and lets his pride take priority; lady Sarnai, who is resentful at being sold to the emperor for peace; the Shansen, a warlord trying to wrest the throne and the country from the current emperor who also has a demon on his side; the demon that cursed her; and the demon she is becoming.

Most of the book is Maia fighting the changes within her. An internal battle of dark demon magic versus the light of Amana's magic. Maia finds herself trying to hang on to the pieces of herself as they fade away the more she succumbs to the demon magic. I do wish we had gotten more from Lady Sarnai, because she is a fascinating character. A warrior princess, whom Maia believes is the only one who can bring peace. Unlike book one, this book did focus more on violence and fighting rather than on the tailoring and clothing, although some of that was still present.

For some reason, I just didn't feel as invested in the characters, and I thought the ending was a little too Deus Ex Machina for my taste. I did enjoy this author's writing, so I will probably read her other books as well. At least I finished another series!

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chaptersofamylea's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.0

“I will stay by your side until the fire in the sun grows cold and the light in the moon is no more. Until time blots out the stars."

3 ⭐️

Elizabeth Lim’s storytelling will never not have me in awe. Beautiful settings, the magic and romance are all just gorgeous. While I enjoyed the high stakes of this book a lot, I just didn’t enjoy it as much as Spin the Dawn or Six Crimson Cranes (which I LOVED the references to in this one).

There was a scene towards the end that had me crying in the bath so theres that.

TWs: War themes, detailed depiction of violence and gore, death of family members

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sydapel's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

2.5

Elizabeth Lim (by her own admission according to the author's notes) really struggles with sequels. I found an already confusing magic system becoming even less well explained, and a poorly placed plot that did little to support even it's main character's arc. I do appreciate seeing the Japanese folklore interwoven into the story, as well as Lim's focus on female leaders, but it fails to come together in a satisfying way.

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melina_30's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Nicht so gut, wie der erste Teil, aber trotzdem spannend. Die Stimmung des Buches war sehr deprimierend und hoffnungslos, daher kein Buch, was man unbedingt gerne liest... Trotzdem war es sehr gut geschrieben, spannend und ein relativ guter Abschluss der Reihe.

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