Reviews with content warning for Death - Among the Beasts & Briars

Among the beasts and briars is one of those books that I just needed to read because of the cover alone. This book is stunning! And I know that it’s a superficial thing to look at a beautiful cover and to think “ahhh, I need this” but it didn’t fail me this time!

The plot
Cerys is the daughter of the royal gardener. She practically grew up around the castle and became friends with the prince and princes, with whom she grew up. 8 years ago there was a terrible accident in which her mother and the prince died.

Now in the present time the king died and her best friend Wen is going to be crowned. At the celebrations the same thing that happens 8 years ago happens again and to safe her friends and family Cerys needs to enter the dangers Forrest to find the legendary lady of the woods. In the hopes she can end the curse that has been terrorizing the forest and the kingdom of Aloriya for hundreds of years.

The characters
I really liked the characters especially Fox. The characters are diverse and the both have weaknesses. I liked the fact that one of them was a coward. That’s a character type that you do not see often in books. I feel like it could have been done better but it is a start. The character dynamic was on point.

Worldbuilding
The world is easy to understand but well build.

The writingstyle
I loved the writingstyle. It’s fast paced and beautifully written. The book has some amazing quotes and it reads like a fairytale does.

I would recommend this book, especially to lovers of into the never woods, the near witch, the wolf and the woodsmen, sorcery of thorns and the enchantment of ravens.

Content Warnings

caitlindee's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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? No

4.0

I enjoyed this so much! A great, fast-paced, standalone fantasy with some wonderful characters and a unique world. I thought the writing style was great, the world-building was clear but not info-dumping, and the character/relationship development was done very well!

Content Warnings

diana_barv's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

2.75

I picked this book up for the storygraph challenge; it was supposed to be a book catered to my main moods: dark, adventurous and mysterious. And yes, I got magic, an enchanted forest, curses, a prince and princess, a girl who gets to be more than what she thought she could be and all that bass. It even fitted a wlw couple by the end (albeit way to briefly it almost felt like an afterthought). But all in all... I didn’t like it. It was fast, way to fast at times. The climax left me like ... that was it? And the aftermath was all off page. And it was a relatively short time to fix all that mess. It had a lot of blood, tbh I was worried Cerys was gonna bleed out! The romance... it could have been very good but it felt so flat to me. And most of the plot twists were totally predictable. I didn’t like that Cerys kept saying she was just a gardener’s daughter! And yeah, lots of plot holes. Perhaps a younger version of me would have loved it, but I am afraid to admit that I’ve definitely outgrew YA by now :c

Content Warnings

luosymekawa's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring fast-paced

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

4.0

“There were no perfect kingdoms with cost, and there were no stories that were completely true - or completely false.”

Uhm, hello, I love Fox and Daisy so much🥺😭 Fox as a character reminds me of Rick O’Connell from the mummy (especially when he banters with Daisy). Each character was unique and so lovable, which made the tale even more enjoyable to read. The banter between Daisy and Fox was so genuine, authentic, and sweet. As a type of fairy tale, it seems to be meant for the younger of the young adults, but with that in mind there was a fair bit of cussing.

“You aren’t alone fox. Burdens are meant to be shared.”
“...people who die never really leave...we carry them with every breath we take, until the wind itself is gone.”
“Then there would be a hole where you should have been, and I would miss whatever was supposed to fill it.”

The last few pages definitely made me tear up. This book has such a soft spot in my heart, right next to Fairest by Gail Carson Levine.

Content Warnings

wolfsbanebooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

dez_blair's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Content Warnings

theroguerecommender's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

Content Warnings

fromjuliereads's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

**Thank you to Harper Collins Canada for an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

I really enjoyed the book! It was fairly light for a fantasy, and was not that complicated which was nice! Would definitely recommend for anyone who doesn't normally read fantasy but wants to try something lighter.

I liked the characters for the most part, and that they were flawed. The middle to ending of the book was far better in plot development than the beginning in my opinion.
I'm not sure if this is a standalone, but it could be!! The story stands on it's own for sure.

Slight spoilers below...
I did struggle with a few things:
1. This book was VERY predictable. I basically saw everything coming. Everything. There was I think only ONE thing that surprised me. And it was honestly so small plotwise... I don't mind some things being predictable, but the majority just bugs me...

2. I was so frustrated with Cerys in the beginning. And to an extent, Fox as well. They constantly go on and on about how useless they are. How they are "just a fox" or "just a gardener's daughter." WE GET IT. It was frustrating to have it reiterated so many times when in the end they did everything anyways. It's different when a character doesn't feel confident or courageous and does something versus constantly belittling themselves even while they are wanting to do something or doing it. It was a little annoying...

3. Repetition. I swear. The same thing was explained over and over at the beginning. That might be why everything felt predictable? There were certain pieces of backstory that were repeated numerous times by Cerys within one chapter. I don't mind if it is repeated once as a reminder, but this was excessive.

4. Okay, this one might be petty. It doesn't normally bother me? But there were direct quotes and scenes taken from other things which just felt a bit cringe to me. Cerys quotes verbatim a line from Disney's Beauty and the Beast. The dancing scene from Tangled? Yeah it happens exactly. And don't even get me started on the one parallel to HP that I caught. It was not subtle. I don't mind if there are parallels to other works, but these ones just rubbed me the wrong way...

Content Warnings

More...