Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Shadow in the Glass by J.J.A. Harwood

12 reviews

giamsanchez's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I honestly liked that it wasn’t actually similar to the story of Cinderella but gave enough tiny comparisons. At first the story was very hard to want to keep reading. Eventually once the devil woman “fairy godmother” comes into play that’s when the story is way more compelling. I was surprised that there was a love interest/plot line. It would’ve gotten a higher rating if it wasn’t so demonic. It started to become very obvious that it was never gonna be a fairy godmother but it did get the rating of 3 because it was compelling and like I said an interesting twist on Cinderella. I also didn’t appreciate the ending, it ended on a cliffhanger. Considering the book isn’t a series I didn’t quite understand why leave it off that way.

I decided to interpret the ending as the demon lady having to give Eleanor her wish of being above all laws and letting her live happy ever after. But most people interpret it as her killing herself before the demonic lady even has the chance to take her soul

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child death, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Classism

amalyndb's review against another edition

3.5

I need to remember that I do not enjoy Gothic novels in November with SAD.

This is very much a Gothic novel, the slow descent from reality into unraveling. It is well done, just not my cup of tea 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Classism

livetgjennomb_ker's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Classism

crystalsparkles's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

There’s a quote on the cover from Katie Lowe that says ‘A gothic twist on Cinderella that is truly exquisite’ - I would say that there’s definitely an element of Rumpelstiltskin in there. But in all, not a happily ever after kind of story. 
Was somewhat frustrated by the ending, but I suppose it’s because we’re all used to things tied off neatly in a bow at the end of our stories, and it’s not happening here. 
It was dark & twisted and messy. 
I’d put this in the murder mystery or psychological thriller section if it didn’t have a fairy godmother. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Abortion, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Grief, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Religious bigotry and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

rachaelvo4's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

The ending was expected but also disappointing nonetheless. After awhile I just thought Eleanor was irritating but she is a great character to analyze, I do understand that she had so much going on w her circumstance, and it’s hard to have self control when you’re given the option between your greatest dreams and living hell. She does not deserve any of the love that Charles gave her. I love the historical time period accuracy. The relationship w the characters was a little hard to see how they reflected on the main character, felt like it was mostly to give more storylines and keep plot moving. Probably wouldn’t read again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

pertlek's review

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

2.25

I really wanted to love this book. I tried so hard to honestly the whole gothic twist on Cinderella is what drew me in but in reality it’s this poor girl who just wants some basic human needs like safety and shelter and the only possible way she was able to get those things was by trading in her soul. <spoilers> I honestly really wanted her to be happy in the end not necessarily with Charles but to see her go and travel with her friends. But instead her want of basic needs left her dead after she used her last wish and she was never able to be truly happy. I k ow that not all books end happily but this book truly didn’t have a second of hope attached to it. <\spoilers>

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Blood, and Classism

rogue_sheep_reads's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

It was a slow build, and fairly anticlimactic, but it still sucked me in and kept me reading for three days until I finished it. I can’t explain what kept me coming back, when I generally felt kind of bored while reading it. I will admit that the premise of the story is interesting, and when I explained it to others it sounded better than what I was reading. It was an intriguing idea that could have been done better. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Blood

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism

Minor: Cursing, Miscarriage, Vomit, Grief, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

dontwritedown's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Wishes, wishes, wishes....this book takes a look at what can happen, not only if you aren't careful with them but also the damage it can do to those around you.

It's a nice retelling of Cinderella, except the Fairy Godmother is evil, the stepfather is evil, and there are no stepsisters, just a stepbrother that knocks Ella up, and a couple of lesbian maids.

Honestly this book works both as a standalone or the first books in a series of retellings.

Definitely worth a read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Deadnaming, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Rape and Gaslighting

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

oracle_of_madness's review

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

4.5

I did not expect the story to go the way it did.  I was expecting something light and happy.  But, I loved this dark take on Cinderella.  Awesome! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, and Murder

kaitlynnnng's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

This review contains spoilers.

This is yet another book that’s difficult for me to review. I listened to the audiobook and followed along in the physical book. If it weren’t for the audiobook, I don’t know if I would’ve been able to finish this book as quickly as I did. It was very slow-paced (except for the last 80 pages or so), and I definitely got bored more than once. The writing style was not my favorite for when I’m reading for pleasure. However, this is a great example of gothic literature, and, as an English teacher/former English major, I can appreciate that. I can definitely see the Gender and Literature classes I took in college reading this book!

I’ve read many reviews where people said Eleanor, the main character, was a terrible, selfish person who made terrible choice after terrible choice. For most of the story, I completely disagreed with those reviews. While unfortunate things did happen as a result of Eleanor’s wishes, and while I didn’t necessarily connect with her, I completely understood why she made her choices/wishes she made, I felt bad for her, and I recognized that she tried to take care of those she cared for. However, in Parts Six and Seven, Eleanor was undeniably more selfish, and, at the very end, she refused to take any responsibility for her own actions, which I didn’t like.

The Epilogue creates a strangely satisfying ending, though it’s far from happy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Death, Miscarriage, Rape, Blood, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, and Alcohol