Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer

15 reviews

akswhy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring tense 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? Yes

3.75

The first YA romantacy I’ve actually enjoyed in YEARS! Pleasantly complex plot, fun twists and turns, and an interesting world. I’m excited to start book 2! Mind the content warnings.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Confinement, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Rape and Stalking

lkristin2018's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

3.5

In a land where citizens are dying of fever, there is only one treatment, and there isn’t enough for everyone. Tessa and Wes steal from the rich and distribute it to the poor until things go badly. The world building is excellent, and feels relevant in the world of Covid. The characters are complex and engaging and the political intrigue keeps the reader guessing. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Chronic illness, Confinement, and Physical abuse

Minor: Ableism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol

Ableist language for mental illness used multiple times (crazy, mad, insane) suicidal/self-harming thoughts including

tossing oneself into a fire, insisting on being killed with a crossbow as a sacrifice for one’s kingdom being glorified

ajpotz's review against another edition

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

3.0

Pretty fun book, definitely not literary art but easy to read 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

calicat42's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

thumbeleia's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

kryzysowa_narzeczona's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Police brutality, and Medical content

Moderate: Torture and Grief

brookesbookdaze's review against another edition

adventurous challenging inspiring reflective 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

3.5

This was a highly anticipated read for me.

If you’ve heard the sound from Dance Moms of Abby Lee Miller saying, “You were good. I’m waiting for you to be great.” That was my thoughts through this whole book.

It’s labeled fantasy, but I didn’t get that.

The romance angle was sweet. The weird thing is I feel it’s a big part of the story, but it was very subtle.

The plot twists were easy to figure out.

Tessa was sweet but very naive. I wished she had been a little tougher for the life she lived as an outlaw. 

For about the first half of the book I felt it was very dry. Not really engaging me in the story. It felt like it followed a similar plot to plenty of other books I’ve read. The pacing is fast so that helped. The second half really picked up though and I felt more engaged from there. 

It leaves me unsure if I will read book 2.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Chronic illness

mollysbooklist's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I loved this! Great character development and plot. Once I started I didn’t want to stop. I was immediately invested even through the world building. 


The story highlights that life is not always as simple as good vs. bad. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

librarianheaven's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-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

This has to be one of my biggest favourite books of all time. This was the first book I read when I started getting into reading and book collecting, I cried a lot and the plot twist was great! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Torture, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Chronic illness

ka_ke's review against another edition

Meh. I think I’ve just moved beyond the Y/A reading level, that or some Y/A authors are just not giving their readers enough credit. As much as a robin hood retelling is interesting and certainly not over done, I think the whole “we hate the king & his brother thing” has become a cliché.  Don’t be a cliché my dear. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Terminal illness, Grief, and Death of parent