Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Obsidian Feathers by N. Cáceres

6 reviews

cass_cgallegos's review

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Blood, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, and Sexual harassment

meat_muffin's review

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No

2.5

To be honest, this book BADLY needed an editor - it was 75-100 pages too long, full of flowery prose that didn’t add anything and repeated commentary by each MC on the attractiveness of their own ?? Body ?? It was like the author often forgot whose POV they were writing.

Not to mention that both main characters were absolutely infuriating. You’re 60% of the way into the book before they have AN ACTUAL CONVERSATION - this isn’t even a miscommunication trope, this is body-betrayal-means-we-only-hate-fuck-and-never-say-anything-meaningful. Pissed me the hell off.

Super interesting plot, I liked learning about magic systems from another culture (El Salvador!), but the lack of an editor shone through so obviously it was tough to enjoy 😬

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Rape, Torture, Trafficking, Stalking, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Deportation

kittykels's review

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I LOVE the cultural elements of this book. I love the general story. However, I found it very hard to keep interest. The important world-building information leaned more towards being told rather than being shown. A lot was told to us through the narration and dialogue in a very direct and info-dumping kind of way. It really should have been better woven into the story, the people, etc. 

The FMC was a bit annoying, but by the end I was wondering if her naivety (to put it nicely) was intentional, before embracing her full self (phrased this way to avoid spoilers). She doesn't seem as dumb and naive by the end at least, but she very much was for most of the book. 

A lot of people have complained about Sal and how he's forcing himself on her the whole time, so that's what I was prepared for going into this book. I was even prepared to DNF if it was too much. However, I didn't find this to be the case at all. Sal is dominant and brutal, but Xochi loves that about him from the beginning, despite it bristling her at first due to her whole shitty life she's lived until now. 

So while I was expecting the sex to be the uncomfortable part, it wasn't at all and it was actually the gore for me, especially towards the end. If you're looking to avoid triggers, I'd be more worried about the gore and violence. 

I think this is a series, but I honestly don't know if I'll continue reading it, especially if they're all long like this. I like long books but this one definitely could have been shortened. Some basic interactions took several pages to complete. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Fatphobia and Panic attacks/disorders

domnicmtz's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Injury/Injury detail

kbairbooks's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional lighthearted mysterious sad tense 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

5.0

A huge thank you to the author for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

WOW. This is what I call an explosive debut!! This was incredible! The descriptions were rich and decadent like chocolate cake, the enemies to lovers genuinely made me dislike Sal before loving him, I LOVED the side characters and how they added such fullness to the story instead of merely existing, and I couldn’t go to sleep last night without devouring the rest of this story. It was one of those stories that I HAD to know what happened and couldn’t sleep until I did! What a lovely feeling this has given me and a joyful reminder of why I read. I loved all the culture, I loved Xochi, I loved the magic, and the found family, and just everything about this book. Also can we talk about the cover?!?! Hello?!? It is stunning!! Brava! I loved this read and can’t wait for more from the author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

bittersweetcritiques's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

5.0

Thank you for the arc!

“The moon is jealous of your beauty, Xochitl.”

First of all, it's a 5🌟 read for me. But it is DARK. Please check CWs.

Xochi is one of the most lovely characters. She's fat, beautiful, glorious, kind, thoughtful, and as we see her begin to heal from her trauma, she is fiery and badass. I cannot wait to watch her bloom in the next book.

Sal is harder for me to love. He's hot, absolutely, but he is such an alphahole. Regardless if you love a "I'll burn it all down for her" attitude and were disappointed when the Beast transformed into the Prince at the end of Beauty & the Beast... this is the leading man for you.😏

Beyond the characters themselves, the plot is what really had my attention. The Cadejos were fascinating. I had never read about their lore before and if you're thinking European werewolves...it's definitely not that. Trading shadows and being two in one body (one spirit,  one human) + how they feed -- W O W

Much of the novel surrounds Xochi & Sal as they try to define their relationship, but there is always an undercurrent of mystery. What is the deal with Xochi's mother? What happened to her sister? What are those pills she takes that smell like rot & death? We are gifted quite a few answers by the end, but it definitely leads into even more questions and a perfect set-up for book two.

Yes, it is SPICY. CW kind of spicy. Spicy that made me feel like vanilla ice cream🍦

Finally, N. Cáceres is an incredible writer. Her use of language and the feelings she conveys with the words she chooses....Let's just say, I've rarely read her equal. 

As one of my most challenging & enticing reads this year, I highly recommend Obsidian Feathers🖤

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail