Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher

11 reviews

thecandiegirl's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death

Minor: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Suicide, Torture, and Violence

shae_purcell's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.25

A really sweet story of friendship and adventure. But mostly friendship. It does have its dark moments, but the characters are lovable (well, most of them) and there were a few pages that had me on the edge of my seat.

I love a happy ending. 🥰

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Suicide, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Torture, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cursing, Violence, and Grief

emilywemily6's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-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

5.0

T. Kingfisher is a master at creating tales that feel both familiar and fresh. A great, atmospheric novella that warms your heart to these imperfect characters. There is depth in these characters that is subtle and stays with you a long time. I want more!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Kidnapping

Minor: Cursing

r_a_bell's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

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

4.75

So short but so lovely! I guess the story is what some people would consider a bit on the darker side, but overall it felt like a hug. Toadling was just so endearing! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Physical abuse, Suicide, Murder, and Abandonment

Minor: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, and Blood

There is some content that people could be sensitive to but overall it is very light and barely does more than mention the previously listed contents. I will say, as someone who is EXTREMELY sensitive to animal death/violence, it kind of goes out of the way to say that the animal lived and was ultimately okay. It also gives absolutely zero detail about what actually happened.

crystalisreading's review against another edition

dark reflective

• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Violence, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic

wrensreadingroom's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

kshertz's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-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? No

4.25

I really love this author. This Sleeping Beauty retelling is great! I love a twist. I love telling it from a completely different perspective. Nothing is as the fairytale would have you believe. Plus it’s got some creepy aspects too. Very highly recommend this quick read. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

uranaishi's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious reflective 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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Physical abuse, Death of parent, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

tigger89's review against another edition

dark emotional funny sad fast-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

5.0

This novella was dark, but at the same time cute(in a muddy, squishy sort of way) and occasionally funny. I couldn't help but root for Toadling, who was trying her best while everything was so impossibly hard. I also loved the character of Halim, who was in turns funny, caring, and somber. Something I appreciated was that there was no explicit romance on the page, though you could certainly read something into the Halim-Toadling interactions if you were so inclined.

While the story is dark, I wouldn't classify it as a horror story. Perhaps there's some horror in the story of the changeling, but it mostly hit me as sad and inevitable rather than scary. Horror is so deeply individual though, and I could see someone being very unsettled by the situation, especially if they have children.

The biggest strength of the story was undoubtedly the characters. The plot itself was average. I have no complaints about the Sleeping Beauty retelling, but it was nothing mindblowingly original. Plot-wise, I'd give this a solid 4 as far as fairy tale retellings-with-a-twist go, but I have to give it another star for how delightful the characters were. I actually really want a sequel with Toadling, but unfortunately I feel like this is going to be a one-off. I'll just have to settle for whatever else T. Kingfisher writes!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Cursing, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Kidnapping and Murder

booksthatburn's review against another edition

mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

3.0

THORNHEDGE is a Sleeping Beauty retelling which recasts the sleeper as someone best never woken: a faerie changeling whose confusion at the human world and disregard for other lives turns her into someone who can only be contained in sleep or stopped forever in death. The sleeper is constrained and contained by Toadling, the once-human girl who was stolen from her cradle and replaced by that very same changeling.

I like this as a take on Sleeping Beauty, but it plays the idea of changelings straight, not engaging with the historical links between “changeling” children and autism (or other ways of being ostracized for being strange). In that light, featuring a child so unable to learn social rules that she must be kept or killed becomes a more fraught narrative, one that makes the story harder to enjoy. I like Toadling and Halim, but because of how the backstory is told first as memories then as stories to Halim, I remain unsure just how much Toadling told him of what had happened. I appreciate Halim as an idea of a character, but as a novella there wasn’t really room to flesh out that many significant characters and Toadling received most of the detail (to Halim’s detriment). The time dilation between the human world and Faerie allows for a couple of cool narrative moments. Ultimately this is a book I would neither recommend nor dissuade someone from reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cursing, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic