Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Ruthless Lady's Guide to Wizardry by C.M. Waggoner

6 reviews

craftysnailtail's review

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

I was pretty excited for a sapphic novel by this author, but to be honest, I wasn't sold on the romance. The main characters are likeable and unique, I'm just not sure they make sense together. The plot was interesting, but this book felt like two novels squished together. I think it would've been better split up into two. It was still a fun and slightly creepy read, just like the first in the series. I highly recommend listening rather than reading this one. The slang would've been a nightmare without the talented VA they got for the audiobook. 

It's a bummer the romance fell flat for me because the characters were well developed. It almost makes me feel like the author wasn't entirely comfortable writing a gay couple. The first book had quite a bit of explicit material, but this one has zero spice. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, it just felt odd to me when compared to the first in the series. Overall, I would read more from this series because I enjoy the characters and atmospheric plots. They're great autumn reads. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Moderate: Classism

Minor: Confinement

littlelizzieborden's review

adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

rachtmh's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Wickedly funny and very much a page turner. I barely wanted to put this book down! 
The characters are brilliant, the plot is explosive, the representation is great, and the ending is pleasing. 

You do need to be able to pay attention whilst reading to make the most of the ‘accent’ and language used in the writing/conversation. 

I was pleased how the book turned out for most of the characters and didn’t feel like there were any loop holes or obvious loose threads. 

Overall very funny and enjoyable. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Death, Drug use, Grief, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Cursing, Gun violence, Violence, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury

Representation: Infertility, LGBTQIA+, mental and physical illness.

the_lesbrarian's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Suicide, Grief, and Abandonment

Minor: Animal death and Classism

relin's review against another edition

I really enjoyed the characters but struggled with the pacing and writing style around this point where I noticed I was setting it down frequently. Picking it back up again got harder each time, but I had to read the ending to see what happened. I did skip ahead so I could have that conclusion even though I was missing some key parts.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Drug abuse, Suicide, Violence, and Medical content

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Gun violence, Blood, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

There is also attempted

sorocide

that is not accomplished.

eamily's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Body horror, Cursing, Gun violence, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Grief, and Gaslighting