Reviews tagging 'Gore'

A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee

30 reviews

erinoco's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, and Violence

abbyhrc's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

i put no for the diverse characters because despite the main ship being lesbians and the short appearance of a non-binary character, most of them are white and the black character's role was pretty much narrowed to educating felicity about racism... i also knocked it down to 4.25 because the ending felt very rushed compared to the slow pace of the book. however, contrary to most, i loved the way her psychosis was portrayed because it felt very real, we had no idea what was going on or not

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Alcoholism and Gore

hmurff's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Blood, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Cursing and Alcohol

Minor: Confinement

milly2222's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Animal death and Gun violence

mybeevenme's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• 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

3.75

I really don't know how to rate this, maybe because I normally don't read thriller.
I also didn't really find Felicity that lovable/relatable, because she strikes me as the kind of person I'd avoid in real life because of how she treats others.
I like Ellis tho, a lot actually, but I felt like her portrayal was inconsistent, what could be due to the nature of Felicity being an unreliable narrator.
In general I feel like Felicity as a narrator was a bit too unreliable. don't get me wrong, I like unreliable narrator's, but only to a degree.
All in all if you like thriller and dark academia this definitely might be the book for you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting

Moderate: Eating disorder, Gun violence, and Alcohol

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Vomit

werewolvesnotswearwolves's review against another edition

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

katsbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

“Ex Scientia Ultio. From knowledge comes vengeance.” 

“The question isn't whether magic is real. It's whether I can touch it without being consumed by it.”

This book was alright. The dark academia vibes were spooky and fun. The fact that there was absolutely zero characters that were men was delightful. I didn't fully realize until the very end but every character either identifies as a woman or nonbinary. Loved that representation! I also really liked when the writing got a little meta. However, I found it slightly annoying when the author said something to the extent of "she touched me and I felt a tingle go down my spine" for the 50th time. Like find a new description, please. But ultimately, the atmosphere was this book's saving grace, for sure. The writing and plot weren't terrible. I found different parts intriguing but the first two-thirds or so were kind of slow. It really picked up in the last third but by then I had predicted a major plot twist so when it happened, it didn't impact me the way I expect it was meant to. If  YA thrillers and dark academia are your jam, you'd probably enjoy this more than I did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Sexual content, Abandonment, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug use, Gun violence, and Alcohol

bookishgoob's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I was really excited for this book, and it felt disappointing. i went into it with an idea of dark academia and left with gothic horror, which i guess you could say are similar. I wasn’t expecting a gothic horror, i was expecting a dark academia mystery. this book was slightly confusing at times, with an unreliable narrator. that can be great, because you never know what’s true but if done poorly, it can be confusing, hard to read, and not enjoyable. this teetered the line of poorly written and well written. having lgbt characters at the forefront was nice and the atmosphere was awesome. i was not expecting the animal death scene and that was kind of triggering for me. all around it felt like it lacked something. i’m glad i read it and it feels like a nice introduction to gothic horror but it also feels like you’re not missing much if you skip it. i gave it a 3.5 because the atmosphere was just really great and i did enjoy it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Grief, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Outing, and Abandonment

cianarae's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Very slow beginning, it takes awhile for something interesting to happen. The writing itself was just alright. I liked the mystery/guessing and the characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, and Alcohol

Minor: Alcoholism, Confinement, Cursing, Racism, Suicide, Transphobia, Vomit, and Classism

littlebookaddict's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

I’m not usually into mystery, seeing as I don’t like not knowing things, but this was a dark academia ghostly book about academies and witches. I just had to read it. It was so much more than a mystery it was a dark reflection of passion and the need to create something perfect, the hunger to strive for true excellence in your work. I sort of saw the plot twist coming but the realization of my thoughts becoming truth was invigorating. Some part of me hoped that it wasn’t true, but I’m honestly glad the way Lee took the story to twist it into an even darker book. I love the way this book portrayed emotional disturbance, mental illness, and the stress of modern day. While also portraying the complex relationships and betrayals of the characters. A lesson in vengeance is the perfect title for this book because it summarizes the book in 4 words. I was encapsulated by this book and recommend people who are fans of dark fiction to read this! And also was super thrilled to finally read a dark academia book where the main character was lesbian and the side characters sibling was non-binary. We need more LGBTQ+ dark academia novels in society today.

I will say though while there was a good diversity of sexuality’s and gender expression the solely black character that was included was only used as an interpretation of the “wrongness” of the academy to use a woman of color to their benefit, while basically using this said woman of color to heighten a white woman’s experience. They glanced over important topics of the civil rights movement and barely explored Leonie except to say she was a black woman. I definitely think Lee could’ve used her for more than that not just further a white woman’s experience with racism and it’s history. 

Nevertheless, my perception of the novel is one that is eerily creepy yet beautifully haunting and will love reading this again and again and recommending to my friends to see their reactions.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder