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jennaniho's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Grief
Minor: Racism, Slavery, and Trafficking
toffishay's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
madamenovelist's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Trafficking
There is a brief mention of a child being rescued from sex trafficking. The emotional/physical abuse, blood, gore, and violence are all very graphic. Not for the sensitive.syllareads's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
First of all, the reason this book caught my attention in the first place was because it's absolutely stunning. The cover is beautiful! I'm delighted Lauren Blackwood got to create such a visually stunning book, she deserves it - and I hope more people pick it up purely because the cover makes them curious enough to, and they actually fall in love with this.
I have not yet read Jane Eyre (this book definitely makes me want to remedy that, though) so I can't speak on how well Within these Wicked Walls works as a reimagining (or as a book that has at least drawn inspiration from Jane Eyre). I can say that Lauren Blackwood tries to capture the allusive nature of gothic novels and succeeds for the most part - a lot of her descriptions, as well as the desperate yearning between Andromeda, our MC, and Magnus, her Love Interest, were beautifully done.
However.
The book being YA.... really ruined it for me in the end. Many scenes in between beautiful, desperate moments of longing and despair read incredibly juvenile and pulled me out of the story almost by force. The characters smirk and grin at each other in between sentences of agony and loss and heartbreak. The dialogues go from impossibly tender to teenage ribbing in an instant. Every time I thought I was feeling it, I got forcefully pulled back out of it by some character being a teenaged ass again, and after a while this back and forth made it incredibly hard for me to care properly for any of the characters involved.
Overall: this is not a bad book, and I recommend people at least try. The setting is stunning! I'm so happy BIPOC authors get to retell stories however they wish, with whatever culture they belong to because yes, the canon is incredibly white and every book changing that is a good book for that alone. Personally, the "YA-ness" in between the gothic novel aspects really pulled me out of it and I couldn't get a lot of personal enjoyment out of the book, which makes me very upset :c
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Blood
Minor: Death, Trafficking, and Death of parent
frantically's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Violence, and Abandonment
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Death of parent, and Classism
Minor: Trafficking and Grief
natashaleighton_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, and Physical abuse
Minor: Racism, Slavery, and Trafficking
kayladaila's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Death and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body horror, Confinement, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation
ellariawrites's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Chronic illness, Gore, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment
betweentheshelves's review against another edition
- 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
There was also great chemistry between Andi and Magnus, as all of these manifestations are happening around them. It almost brings them closer together, the danger making their relationship all the more exciting. The changing relationship between Andi and Jember, her guardian/caretaker/trainer/master, also added dimension to the story. All of these details worked well together to create a story that was difficult to put down once you got started.
I feel like YA horror has been upping it's game a bit in the last year, and this is a great addition to a genre that desperately needs more diversity.
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Grief
Minor: Emotional abuse, Slavery, and Trafficking
caseythereader's review
- 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
4.0
- Y'all know I'm a JANE EYRE lover, so as soon as I heard this was a YA fantasy retelling, I ran to grab a copy. And yes, WITHIN THESE WICKED WALLS delivers!
- I love how Blackwood kept all the pieces of the original story but rearranged them a bit, and it all still works wonderfully. Slight tweaks to relationships, and of course the entire idea of Andromeda being a debtera, relocate this story to the fantasy space quite smoothly, while maintaining the basics of the original characters and plot.
- I was gripped by the action and the imagery. Some of those manifestations are gonna stick with me for real.
- The one thing I wish there was more of was backstory on how the church came to be involved in the debtera process. It felt like there could have been a whole prequel novel here with Jember's experience and Andi's training.
Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Racism and Trafficking