Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

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

13 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

nonotyoshi's review

dark 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? It's complicated

The mc is so stupid it physically hurts this isn’t a gothic Cinderella retelling I pulled up my thesaurus and still couldn’t find the right words to describe how infuriatingly godawful this story and this fmc is I’m going insane it could’ve been so good but crashed harder than the Titanic 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy

katie_k1's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Abortion, and Classism

Moderate: Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Death, and Death of parent

lolocole's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.0

When they said Gothic Cinderella, they meant it. There is a menacing energy driving this book. It's coated with Ella's desperation, with impossible situations, with the claustrophobia of being a women with no resources but violence. 
This book had me in a thrall- it was like the impulse to stare at a car crash. You know something horrible has happened, you know equally with the pit in your stomach that you don't actually want to see destruction, and you find your eyes glued to it anyway.
I am fascinated by the loose ends of this story.

Was Ella the one murdering all along? Was there even a woman in the dark? Was murder even necessary for the wishes? Was there such thing as a soul? If not, was Ella's death/suicide at the end a result of guilty paranoia? Did she kill her mother? Why are the accounts of her as a child so cryptic and violent and disorienting? What happened to change the violent silent child? Did Mrs. Pembroke die as a result of magic? I am just reeling.

The fact that Ella was an unreliable narrator didn't really hit home until half of the book had flashed by. We were so deep in her head, feeling the injustices piled upon her and the girls she worked with that the increasing wild nature of her justifications for her actions felt like a startling revelation.
Being a woman is so scary.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Abortion, and Pregnancy

pointeshoebookworm's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

0.5

As a fairytale girlie, I specifically chose this book to be the first book I read in 2024. To start off the year with something that I would fall in love with and there many aspects of this book that were great. But it ultimately fell incredibly flat. As mentioned by many others, the insane amount of plot holes, the potential they had!! The open ending . . . what? I understand wanting to leave the ending open to interpretation, but considering the rest of the book, it just didn't work. Most importantly, the main character . . . how power hungry or fool heardy (or both) do you have to be in order to completely ignore the reality of your situation. How cold hearted do you have to be, to continue on despite the lethal cost of your choices.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Homophobia

user8432's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Child death, Abortion, and Pregnancy

jo_d's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Started and finished this book in less than 24 hours it was so good.
Cinderella retelling: imagine if Ella Enchanted met Oliver Twist and was written by Mary Shelley. The book does a really good job of reverse character growth, and really ropes you into cheering for someone

who by the end makes some horrible decisions that mean she justifies murder for the sake of personal gain

Had me at the edge of my seat the entire time and could hardly put it down. Excellent reworking of the classic tale in a completely different light. The themes of the corruption of power and the justification of horrid actions by someone who believes they deserve better is just *chefs kiss*

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Abortion, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Injury/Injury detail

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

wordswitwonder's review against another edition

dark tense slow-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Grief, Abortion, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, and Gaslighting