Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

5 reviews

noellegrace8's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This type of fantasy is so hard to come by. It's more traditional, with the slow pace and less of a view into the emotions of the characters. They're more static than dynamic, coming into their own if changing at all. The combat scenes are the type of thing I would go back to read only THAT paragraph just for the fun of it (the mug scene, anyone?!). There is no sensationalism or glamorizing of the sexual assault in the book, which I appreciated. On the same note, I liked the represenation of someone whose romantic and sexual desires are unaffected by her past trauma even if that trauma(PTSD) does show up in other aspects of her life. There were no attachment disorder issues or anything, just a strong, decisive relationship. Readers who are looking for a very emotionally charged fantasy, especially on the romance side, will be disappointed in this, as the actual world-building and plot are where it shines. I honestly loved this book so much. Ready to read the others.

The one giant low point for me, despite my 5⭐ rating, is the 19 y/o with the 33 y/o thing. Gross. But to be honest, I genuinely can't imagine Yelena as any younger than 28. So... that's what I choose to believe she is lol. There's this whole section at the end of the book that has the writer going into her chapter notes on the book, and I was so disappointed to hear that a lot of her plot points were not planned, because in hindsight, I can see it. I wish I hadn't known tbh. That being said, the worst was the whole "I didn't plan for the age gap but it was the only thing that made sense." Nah. You can almost ALWAYS make writing work for your vision, you just have to have the skills to do so. Yes, Valek needed to be older to be the commander's first in command. But Yelena could have been older. Make a caste system, it seems like that's already a thing anyway with the way she's not even allowed to defend herself. She could have been owned by Reyad or something, making her disobedience punishable. There are so many ways the age thing could have been above board but Snyder deliberately chose not to put the effort in. So, again, in my head, Yelena is close to Valek's age, because she also ACTS like she is. NO 19 y/o would make the mature decisions she makes.

I give Kristin Atherton 3.5/5⭐. Sometimes she REALLY just HAS it, you know? With the way her voices are all different and recognizable especially. But she has way too much of a monotone most of the time, emotionless (that more stuffy British sound) or without enough pauses and inflection. More than that, however, is her pacing. I NEVER listen to dramatized readings at higher speeds than recorded because that, to me, is like watching a movie at high speed and therefore incorrectly depicts the art of the performance. But I listened to this on 1.5x without remorse. It was unbearably slow otherwise.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Self harm, Transphobia, Medical content, Trafficking, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and War

falkenbsigrid's review against another edition

dark funny reflective fast-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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Physical abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Murder, and Outing

Minor: Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

spaghettii's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.75

I could not put this book down! I had a hard time predicting a lot of the book, which was a nice change.

I knew Rand was going to betray her at some point because of how Valek described him, but wow. I like that despite being portrayed as the bad guy there was still depth to the chatacter.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

jenna36's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.25

I really liked this book! The beginning up to the middle was very nearly perfect in my opinion, well on the way to a five star read. I did feel that the plot got a bit thin in a few places after the middle of the book. It was not really enough to detract from my enjoyment, but it was enough that I didn't feel like I could justify rating it 5 stars.

I like that there was not a lot of BSing around with the romantic relationship, and there was good communication between Yelena and Valek, which YA often lacks. I feel like this straddles the line of older YA/Adult in the serious topics that it addresses. I'm a little creeped out by the transphobic thoughts Yelena had about the commander, but I think based on the end of the book that she is willing to learn. I am cautiously optimistic that the author herself is not transphobic, but I'm retaining a little suspicion. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Transphobia and Violence

Minor: Deadnaming, Self harm, and Sexual harassment

mindsorceress's review against another edition

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Rape and Injury/Injury detail