Reviews tagging 'Blood'

A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall

29 reviews

warlocksarecool21's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective 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

4.0

I thought A Lady for a Duke was a very heartfelt (and queer!) historical romance. What strikes me across all of Alexis Hall’s books is that the characters feel like real people, they have feelings, desires and flaws and you experience all of that with them. Viola and Gracewood were such interesting and dynamic characters and I really enjoyed reading them. I thought Hall did a good job of exploring how PTSD and trauma affect a person, especially in a time period where there wasn’t a term for this condition yet. I also loved how Hall explored how a trans person might live back then, that being trans was just one part of Viola’s story, and that her version of womanhood was never made out to be less than. The romance between Viola and Gracewood was sweet and moving, although I was frustrated with them in the first half of the book, I loved how their relationship progressed and the ending they chose with one another. The only things that didn’t work for me was the pacing felt a little off at times, and I thought the conflict that Viola and Gracewood were working against in the third act was kind of ridiculous but it had its place in the story at the end. (and to anyone worried it’s not a third act break-up! so bless alexis hall for that) Other than I had a great time reading this; and I look forward to more books in this universe (because I definitely saw the seeds planted!) 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Misogyny, Transphobia, and Grief

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Deadnaming, Death, Drug abuse, and Blood

sabrina118's review against another edition

It is so incredibly slow paced, the plot completely shifts about halfway through, and it’s 100 pages longer than it needs to be.

I specifically stopped around the sex scene (yes, 75% into the book)

The hyper dramatics and bland romance just made it impossible to continue. So disappointed, I wanted to love this and I did really enjoy Boyfriend Material by the same author. But it is so inconsistent, melodramatic, and not engaging enough to justify the length.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Deadnaming, Drug abuse, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Misogyny and Transphobia

As a big Jane Austen fan, I was frequently confused by the the “alternate” Regency era depicted in this book cuz women’s virtue is depicted as both integral and also not important at all

(casually talking about premarital sex at public events type beat).

It was like it couldn’t decide exactly which elements of the period to keep and which to alter for the story, so they just mashed a bunch of things together.

ezwolf's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• 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

Been non-stop thinking of “How many times must I mourn you?”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Alcohol, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Gun violence, Transphobia, Vomit, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Deadnaming, Death, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Sexual harassment

fionamclary's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

This was fun and sweet and heartfelt and successful at being a book with a trans heroine where the main conflict is not about her being trans. But it is very much a book about gender, in which Viola learns to embody her womanhood while rejecting the gendered expectations that don't suit her, and Gracewood learns to redefine what it means to be a man in a way that integrates his past traumas without being confined or dictated by them.

I wish we'd gotten a better picture of their friendship pre-Waterloo and how that affects their present relationship. Especially after the first 150 or so pages, it often felt that little would change about the story if they were complete strangers before meeting at Morgancald post-war.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Deadnaming, Drug abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Child abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Gun violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, and Classism

akswhy's review against another edition

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

2.25

I love the concept of this book and the queer characters are handled with care, but the plot is typically melodramatic for the period romance genre. There was not a lot of comedy to break up the heavy drama, and the plot hinges on a very abstract pair of villains that don’t seem to do anything bad until the last 50 pages. I liked the characters and relationships, but the plot and tone didn’t work for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Transphobia

wildatheart1339's review against another edition

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Grief

Moderate: Addiction, Deadnaming, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Infertility, Blood, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

shae_purcell's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing 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? N/A

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual content

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

PTSD; Misgendering; mentions of drowning, corpses

madamenovelist's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Deadnaming

Minor: Transphobia

While this book is about a trans heroine, the only time the heroine is deadnamed/misgendered Is when someone who knew her previously recognizes her. Once this person is told how to address her name/pronouns, they do so. The heroine is never outed, either.

mobymaize's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing 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

5.0

It was really nice to read a regency era romance novel, a genre I don’t typically consume, with a trans woman protagonist, a person just like me :) 

ALSO HOLY FUCK THERE IS SOMETHING INCREDIBLE & HOT ABOUT FALLING IN LOVE WITH EACH OTHERS WORDS. also HOLY SHIT THE SEX SCENE!!!!!!!!!! absolutely magnificent.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Outing, Alcohol, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Gun violence

smuttymcbookface's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content

Moderate: Blood, Kidnapping, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Ableism, Deadnaming, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Death of parent