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sunnyrees's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Suicide and Death of parent
jazzy_readss'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
4.25
Graphic: Suicide and Suicidal thoughts
qrschulte's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Things I loved:
- a protagonist with a disability who is affected by their disability but not defined by it. So refreshing that she was a fully realized person
- the Rhen narrator. Honestly, the book might have been better with just him narrating the whole thing.
- believable reasoning for why someone from our world could ride a fucking horse
Things I did not love:
- How whiny the Harper narrator made her sound sometimes. It made it a lot less believable it was the same character between the narrators.
- The monster narration (so fucking creepy/scary). Could have done without that.
- The parts where it was said Harper was “not like other girls” *cue vomiting*
Graphic: Confinement, Medical content, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, War, Ableism, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Cancer, Suicide, Torture, Emotional abuse, and Grief
Moderate: Abandonment, Body horror, Self harm, Classism, Death of parent, Gore, Murder, and Stalking
Minor: Gun violence, Child death, and Infidelity
autumnaldragon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Minor: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Violence, War, and Self harm
supernova7's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Blood, and Ableism
Minor: Suicide, Gore, Pedophilia, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Suicidal thoughts
karelidz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
I'm not sure what was missing for me to give it 5 stars, but 4.8 just seems right.
I went into it just knowing that it was a beauty and the beast retelling, and that was all I needed to know.
I enjoyed every second of this book, I was a quarter of the way in and I already didn't want it to end. From the first chapter I immediately liked Rhen and his suicidal tendencies 😂.
I'm always a bit skeptical when a book has more than 1 pov because for me it tends to feel "choppy" or it doesn't retain my attention as much but I feel like this book made the shifts between pov's so seamlessly, you started right where you left off, and you didn't miss a single second in between.
I don't think I have any complaints; you ultimately know how the story is going to end, but it was still entertaining enough that it held my attention and I wanted to know what was gonna happen next.
I loved it, I loved the characters, I loved the story... Ugh it was just so good.
Moderate: War, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Death, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Death of parent
sirkeili's review against another edition
- 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? No
3.0
I found Harper to be both intriguing, but also sometimes frustrating when she takes things too literally. She grows a lot during book, but I still found most of her troubles could be solved by trusting Rhen and Grey a lot more than she initially did (even when they proved they meant no ill will).
I think Grey was my favourite, as he seemed the most well rounded and intruguing character. His abilities, attitude and mysterious past seem to all line up in a way that I wanted to follow along with him and see his side of the story. He has so much to tell, and yet so much to unravel about himself as well. Despite the rough and scatter hand of cards he's been given, Grey still shows an innate softness and care for those he holds close.
Harper has all the aspects of a great heroine, but I feel the author hinges everything on her disability, and yet its rarely addressed in the novel. It's almost as though it's just for the ✨ d r a m a ✨ and the "I'm not like other girls" trope (ugh), and not to really showcase how exceptional Harper is despite - and because- of it. I think if there was substance and heart going into developing her character more, Harper could really shine as bright as I know she can. She has a spark big enough to even set Emberfall ablaze, truly.
If you need a softer, yet still slightly gritty retelling, this is a solid one. Very spunky, goofy and generally easy-going-ish book.
Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Torture, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, War, Blood, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Chronic illness
Moderate: Stalking, Terminal illness, Ableism, Bullying, Confinement, Gun violence, and Medical content
Minor: Child death, Cursing, Classism, Misogyny, and Sexism
mmage's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Torture, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Blood, War, Violence, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Cancer
Minor: Domestic abuse
alexiab's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I’m genuinely VERY surprised by this book. The idea of another BATB retelling interested me but didn’t overly excite me, but this story went several directions that I was not expecting at all and I was genuinely very impressed.
I love this approach to the curse/what Harper knows about said curse, and addressing how a leading lady tries to figure out her feelings when she knows she’s supposed to fall in love with someone who abducted her. Overall I think Harper’s mixed emotions about the conflict/Rhen were really well done.
The climax was also super exciting and very well done. It just kept coming and kept coming. I like a book with *good* conflict and I think this delivered.
If this was supposed to be a love triangle I think that definitely fell flat. Grey was a pretty monotone, uninteresting character for the most part, and his unyielding oath felt like it removed a lot of personality from him. I dunno man “loyal to a fault” isn’t really a personality trait.
Also not a fan of Jake. Harper spent so long worried about this dude just for him to act like a Jack ass for most of his scenes. But shout out to Noah the exhausted gay and Rhen the broodiest son of a bitch I’ve ever seen.
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Gore, Violence, and Blood
bunni3's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, and Gore
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Suicide and Suicide attempt