Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Dark by V.E. Schwab

41 reviews

yilliun's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

Such a perfect ending to the series. For as much as the second book dragged, this one truly made up for it. I loved having insight into more characters’ perspectives and I think it

made the deaths of certain characters even more poignant

. I cried my way through the last 20%. 

V. E. Schwab is truly such a talented fantasy writer. I am so glad I picked up this series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Self harm, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Sexual content and Suicide

glund_01's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Homophobia, and Self harm

Minor: Suicide

carefulfearanddeaddevotion's review against another edition

adventurous funny medium-paced

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

5.0

i would read a hundred books of just slice of life with these characters i love them so much <3333

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gore, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Homophobia

readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

adventurous sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical content, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Slavery, Vomit, and Pregnancy

zoeelora's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

whiterabbitslibrary's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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? No

4.5

Loved this, a great end to the series. But it was long and there was a lot happening. I had to keep going back to check things earlier in the book and even earlier in the series a couple of times. Just a warning that it’s a brain engaged kind of book! In the plus side we get so many delightfully fleshed out characters and some really good development for our main gang who I love deeply with all my heart.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Kidnapping, and Pandemic/Epidemic

bean_7088's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I liked this one more than the second one, but this one had more Holland in it so.... 🤷🏼‍♀️

Gotta love tragic bad guy backstory. One part even almost made me cry! 

Kel and Leilah still aren't super believable to me, but the sex scene was hot. 

It was over all really good. First one was the best one, though I wish more of Hollands backstory was in it. But we got it here. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

One scene a character talks about self harm and has ideation. The rest is pirates and magic fight. People die, it's gruesome sometimes

queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-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? No

5.0

5 ⭐ CW: Violence, blood, torture, self-harm, enslavement, death

A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab is the third and final book in the Shades of Magic trilogy. This book was such a chonker, but it was worth every page. This was the perfect wrap up to this story. Schwab has such a beautiful way of marrying character moments with plot. Nothing feels wasted, only enriches. Warning for potential spoilers for the previous books ahead.

We pick up from that doozy of a cliffhanger last book, just in time for Lila to finally get to Kell and remove the collar, ultimately also saving Rhy. Osaron is running amuk in poor Holland's body until he leaves his body to become more "godlike." Red London is consumed by his curse. 

This whole book was made up of a bunch of character moments. It was all about that character development for Rhy, Alucard, Lila, Kell, and Holland. We finally get to see more of Alucard's backstory and a fleshing out of his relationship with Rhy. Holland's arc is the most harrowing and interesting, in my opinion. That man has never not been a victim or been enslaved. All Holland wants is peace, and everyone just wants to kill him or use him. It's made very clear that Holland may have started out as the antagonist, but he is certainly not a villain in the same way Osaron is. It's also fascinating that Holland is the strongest of the three Antari, because the difference between strength and power is control. 

There was so much packed in these pages! I have loved the world building in these books and the magic system. I will definitely be reading The Fragile Threads of Power in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Self harm, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Blood

skillyillian's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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

i debated on lowering the score because some moments of this felt a bit slow, but they weren't even that slow, and even then i loved the slow moments so much that i decided i'm sticking with five stars. schwab's writing is ethereal. they write like delilah bard says her name. i loved this book from start to finish, from character development to problem solving to the way schwab is still worldbuilding down to the very last chapter, there was not one single sentence where i went "eh, take it or leave it" throughout this whole read.

i had moments where i was seriously frustrated with the characters, but it made me love them all the more, bc they were doing things that perfectly fit them and just showed how fleshed-out these characters really are. lila's my favorite fictional character of all time at this point. kell, alucard, rhy, and holland are all the great loves of my life as well but no one can top lila. i'm also biased bc we're birthday twins, but that didn't affect my rating. probably.

the romance subplots were phenomenal. the magic system was as stunning and fantastical as in the first two books. an absolutely incredible, thrilling finale to my new favorite series. i immediately bought the fragile threads of power and can't wait to dive back into this world. i cried for the characters, i cheered for them, this book ran me through a whirlwind of emotions and i will be recovering for a long time to come. even the slower parts, like the flashbacks, still captivated my attention and had me craving more. that might not sound like it makes sense but if you read it you'll get it. and you should absolutely read it. there was not one thing in this book that i felt like didn't belong.

i read this series through KU, bought the paperbacks to annotate, and got the collector's edition box set. schwab is my new favorite author, this is my new favorite series, and i'm never changing my mind. i will recommend this series, and all of their books, until the day i die.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Cursing, Self harm, and Sexual content

Minor: Confinement, Kidnapping, and Alcohol

kathrynok's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail