Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Mercy by Ian Haramaki

13 reviews

amy_salieri's review

dark emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Blood

Minor: Cancer, Vomit, and Sexual harassment

apersonfromflorida's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Homophobia, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual harassment

madscientistcat's review against another edition

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Alcoholism

fromthefoxhole's review

hopeful lighthearted slow-paced

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

3.5

I think that when it comes to this book, you might need to throw the setting out of the window. 
It being set in Russia in the 20s is basically entirely unrelated to the content of the book - the language is *very* modern and anachronistic and other than the fact that the winter is very bitterly cold, I don’t think the Russia placement has anything to do with anything.

The plot meanders a lot, most of the story is based around snippets of domesticity and fluff between Ilya and Danya. The background is that a vague something bad happened to Danya before they met and Ilya couldn’t heal his father so the town hates him. There is very little context given to the religion or the magic system. 

All that said, I still enjoyed reading this immensely. Ilya and Danya are adorable - I especially appreciated Danya’s ham fisted flirting and Ilya’s exasperation with it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail

k_yana's review

dark emotional reflective tense slow-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

4.25

* Stuck between a 4.25-4.5 star rating if I'm being honest !!

This was such an interesting experience! I would say that there are a lot of topics touched upon in this book that would be triggering to others -

Heavy descriptions of abuse from a heavily intoxicated mother, collective homophobia in a conservative community, corruption in religious organisations, etc, etc.

The writing is not too wordy or dense for it taking place in a more fantastical setting. I will say that the usage of modern lingo did throw me for a loop for a story that takes place in the 1920s, but I was alright with letting it slide under the guise of it being in a fantasy world far unlike our own. Who knows, maybe they're just more advanced in terms of language? Lol. 

Ilya and Danya's relationship was so... Domestic. They're so soft with one another that they just grew on me. I think that their contrasting personalities fit well together. I loved how much they showed care for one another, how their relationship blossomed as the story progressed... I think it's just so well-crafted. 

All in all, great read. It got me out of a depressive reading slump!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, and Homophobia

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Death of parent

grownmoss's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

i just can’t stop thinking about those sad little gay men 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Homophobia and Death of parent

celestepaed's review

emotional lighthearted 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? It's complicated

3.25

This book is for people who wanted a version of Priest by Sierra Simone that doesn’t make them feel icky about religion or sex. The love between the two main characters is just so pure even if the things they get up to aren’t. The cyclical, anxiety thoughts of the main narrator are authentic and the undoing of said thoughts by the love interest felt natural and earned.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, and Outing

kenzielireads's review

emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

discarded_dust_jacket's review

It’s not that I think the writing is necessarily bad, but this book would benefit from a few more rounds of editing. The author has definite potential, but this story needs some work, and I didn’t want to continue forcing myself to push through.

The anachronistic language took me out of the story every time. It’s supposed to be set in the 1920s but the characters use modern day colloquialisms. The dialogue in general just feels a bit odd and forced, sometimes even downright cringey.

The narrative pushes forward at a pretty quick pace right off the bat, but it isn’t really properly contextualized through any meaningful worldbuilding. I couldn’t get a solid grasp on the religion in particular. Who are the hunters? What and why are they hunting? Why does Ilya keep referencing a time when he “burnt out his eyes” as part of some ritual, without giving any further explanation?

Now granted, I did give up after only 45 pages so maybe these issues would have resolved themselves, but nothing about what I read thus far incentivized me to continue further.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Drug use, and Terminal illness

puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol