Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Witch King by H.E. Edgmon

88 reviews

mythian's review against another edition

emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse and Death of parent

Minor: Deadnaming and Abandonment

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

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

4.0

Finally got around to reading this, and I'm honestly happy I waited until both books were out. Then I could just immediately go to the next book without waiting! This is Edgmon's debut novel, and there is so much to like about it. For me, I think the best aspect of the writing was the characters. They each had their own voices, and even though there got to be a fairly large cast of characters, I didn't feel like I lost track of who anyone was. Plus, there's a very strong found family aspect, which we always love.

Wyatt and Emyr's evolving relationship is also what kept me hooked. Even though they've lost a lot of years, you can tell there's a strong connection and great chemistry between them. They have a rocky start, but Edgmon did a great job writing the both of them. It's why I immediately needed the next book as well!

The only aspect I would have changed is a bit more world building and a bit more clarity in the timeline. At times, I felt a bit lost and a few more details would have helped situate me a little more in this particular world.

Aside from that, I was absolutely hooked and I can't wait to see what happens in book 2!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Deadnaming, Sexual assault, and Transphobia

Minor: Child abuse, Infertility, and Miscarriage

broccoli_j's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

4.75

The fae fantasy for queer people

Fae fantasy is a trend for quite some time now, but it’s mostly written in a very white, cishet setting. 

The witch king takes all the tropes, the fantasy settings and the beautiful, royal fae that we already love and just adds a rebellious young trans main character. 

Wyatt is a loveable, relatable and cute main character. His past is written with trauma and that also reflects in his actions. When his fiancé forces him back to his birth world Asalin, we expect a cliché fated mates, enemies to lovers storyline. But the relationship between those two and their individual personalities are just so well written. 

The side characters are also very well written and diversity is well incorporated into the story. 

I’m excited to start the second book soon!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Violence, and War

Moderate: Sexual assault and Death of parent

noellelovesbooks's review against another edition

4.75

 Content Warnings: Transphobia, deadnaming, sexual harassment, sexual assault, fire death/fire injury, violence, child abuse, and mention of infertility and miscarriages.

I've been meaning to read this book since it's release and I'm so glad I finally did! We get found family, being true to yourself, romance, soulmates, and so much more. I'm looking forward to reading book two and for them both to be available in paperback so I can buy and annotate my own copies 🥰 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Child abuse, Fatphobia, Infertility, and Miscarriage

Minor: Pregnancy

brianneh's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

3.0

I really liked the beginning of this book, but I thought it got a little bogged down and flat in the middle. I wasn’t quite sure what the goal was at certain points and felt like the plot meandered a bit.

I loved that there was so much good representation and diversity in The Witch King. I really enjoyed several of the characters we are introduced to, my favorites being Briar and Jin. I wish we’d had more of Jin overall! I’d also love to hear more from Briar’s side of things, I think it would be really interesting.

At first, I really found myself drawn to the main character Wyatt and his story. One of my favorite lines of his in the early pages of the book was:

“Gender is weird. The rules are all made up and people should just do whatever they want”

But as the book went on I found Wyatt to be a bit annoying at times. The book is told through first person point of view, which I think contributed to the meandering I mentioned, as a lot of time was spent on Wyatt thinking about things, then not really communicating those thoughts to people in a conducive way. Throughout the book, Wyatt comes up these schemes which he doesn’t really seem to think through, then never really has to face any real consequences to many of his actions. This way of thinking and acting may be true to course for some teenagers, but it’s not the most compelling thing to read. 

There were also quite a few mentions about pregnancy, specifically unwanted and/or forced, which wasn’t marked in the content warnings here on StoryGraph. 

Overall, I know a lot of people love this book, and while it wasn’t one of my favorites, I can see why others enjoyed it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Deadnaming, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy

Minor: Abandonment

kibberbl's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Deadnaming and Sexual content

karcitis's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Deadnaming, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Dysphoria

christineolivia's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious relaxing tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse

madmadmaddymad's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny 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

This is a fantastic book, chock full of adventure and high stakes, with a plucky trans protagonist and a dreamy love interest. It takes place in a world of fae and humans, and includes a subset of the fae race called witches that are more human in appearance - and more powerful than high born fae. Wyatt is a witch, and Emyr is his fae mate. But they met before Wyatt ran away to the human realm - and before he transitioned.  

I LOVED the premise, the sheer adventure in this story, and being guided by a protagonist with such a fun sense of humor. 

My favorite character is Briar, bi and ace best friend to Wyatt.

At the end we find out what happens to witches who are dumped in the human realm. “We call ourselves changelings, actually.” She’s a witch too! I literally LOVED the reveal with Briar and it made me want to immediately grab the sequel to this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Deadnaming, Rape, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

sabsboutin's review

adventurous emotional inspiring 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Deadnaming