Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

The Six Deaths of the Saint, by Alix E. Harrow

9 reviews

bookishwondergoth's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-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

5.0

This Joan of Arc-inspired (I can only assume) short story is absolutely superb. The amount of depth, intrigue, characterisation and emotion that Alix E. Harrow packs into just 30 pages is nothing short of astounding. Beautifully written, full of quotable hard-hitting lines, I cannot recommend this enough.

I've seen a few people in their reviews say they wish this had been a full-length novel. I find that I do also wish this, but I also wonder, "Would it have hit so hard if it wasn't so short?" The answer, I think, is no. The fact this is a short story is what makes its power so astonishing.

Read it once through to experience it for the first time. Then read it again to fully understand it. It is excellent. I loved this story and will definitely be reading more of Alix E. Harrow's work in the future.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, and War

Minor: Sexual content, Gore, Injury/injury detail, Blood, and Suicide

There are repeated instances of drowning. Two characters repeatedly emotionally manipulate another character to carry out their wishes.

thewordsdevourer's review

adventurous dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

3.25

time loop stories are always a bit of a mindfvck for me, and the six deaths of the saint is no different. what differentiates this one, however, is how short and concise it is, yet it still packs quite an emotional punch. the saint and gwynne's story also ends up being surprisingly touching towards the end, and the former's character development - albeit over centuries - is great. the externalities arent overly highlighted as the story's so focused on the saint's inner life, but it's def an interesting one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Death

Moderate: Suicide, War, Injury/injury detail, and Murder

Minor: Emotional abuse

f18's review

dark slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Violence

Moderate: Suicide, Death, and Injury/injury detail

Minor: Blood and Child death

marreadsbooks22's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

6 stars

I'm blown away by how magnificent this was.

I spent like 5 days at 80% of this book because I couldn't bring myself to pass the page because I knew it was going to hurt and... I'm not okay now. 

This quote (😭)
"“Rise,” I say, and then I tell her what she has wanted to hear all her life: that someone, somewhere, needs her. That she is not nothing."

I have no words to describe how beautiful and amazing this book was. I'm speechless. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Child death, Suicide, Violence, Murder, War, Gore, and Grief

bexbringsbooks's review

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

There are no saints. And love is a tragedy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Colonisation, Death, Gore, Grief, Murder, Suicide, War, Xenophobia, Blood, Body horror, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Classism, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Injury/injury detail, Toxic relationship, and Violence

bladelikesbooks's review

adventurous dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

5.0

‘The Six Deaths of the Saint’ is a fantasy short story about an orphan and how far she’ll go to be beloved. 

This was really fun. I loved the plot and the characters. Most of the time with short stories that I enjoy, I end it wanting more and a fully fleshed out version but I was perfectly satisfied with this. I also really loved the narration! It was proper voice acting rather than just reading the text and it was fantastically done. 

“unloved and unknown except by one another.”

TWs/CWs - Abuse; Amputation; Blood; Death; Drowning; Grief; Illness; Loneliness; Manipulation; Murder; Suicide; Violence; War

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Blood, War, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Violence

kassidyreads's review

dark sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Suicide, Death, War, and Child death

readingwithkaitlyn's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

• 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Violence, Injury/injury detail, War, Suicide, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Ableism and Child death

Minor: Sexual content

Drowning

chloeuvres's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I have high expectations for Alix E. Harrow's work that should be pretty impossible to exceed, but here we are, wailing after reading this three times in 24 hours 😢

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, War, Murder, Injury/injury detail, Suicide, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Ableism