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hookerkitty's review
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Death, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Homophobia, Physical abuse, and War
_p0ssum_'s review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, and Child death
Minor: Homophobia, Miscarriage, and War
nytephoenyx's review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Homophobia, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Pregnancy and War
Author is transgender and identifies as nonbinary, using they/them pronouns. Certain editions of their books use their deadname (like this one - StoryGraph has it right, but the physical copy was printed with the author’s deadname).dementis93's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Slavery, and Murder
Moderate: Homophobia and Infidelity
Minor: Grief and War
michaelion's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I didn't like that for so long it all felt confusing. It felt like something was missing, like something was supposed to be between the lines, but not in the metaphorical sense of a book; like there was literally supposed something in between the spacing of the sentences that was missing. I figure, it's a horror/thriller type book, so maybe other horror/thrillers are like that, and even though I knew answers would come at the end it wasn't so frustrating that I wanted to stop. But I did want to add that note in my review.
I also personally don't like when people don't answer questions, and that happens throughout the book. It works as a plot device when you wanna do the misunderstanding / miscommunication type trope, and again I knew all the lore questions would be answered when the pages were getting really thin, but many if not all the characters except Arthur are aloof to their core. Stubbornly aloof. Like it made me dislike the characters a bit more.
Even still I breezed through 200 pages before I realized the sun was coming up again.
Of the handful of things I disliked, that all is made up for in how much I loved the writing. The writing really did something for me. I would love to read another story in this world, even if it's not including any of these same characters. I'm gonna read Szabo's next book. They've got a real craft for words.
In my journal notes i simply wrote "VORE?!?!!" idk leave it to a fellow nonbinary to write vore as a character detail!
I removed .25 because of Arthur. We could've had a happy polyamorous couple living it up in the 1910s with no family curse but no! How can you be so miserable you think "Damn, I gotta strangle that baby." And not even because he thought Rhys was dangerous, just because he was... sad. :/
The fact that Grandmere was centuries old and a supernatural creature and somehow still homophobic?! Girl. She got what was coming to her. Her other major sin was, of course, being French.
I wanna buy this book.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement, Homophobia, and War
nutm3g's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and War
boob's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
I was first attracted to this book by the cover, really a piece of art on its own. But the writing and storyline is subpar compared to the cover.
Don't get me wrong, there's definitely potential here. The idea and the writing can definitely go somewhere, but right now the book just wasn't that entertaining. It feels a bit dragged on at times, not seeing where the plot is going. I just couldn't get into it.
Kudos to the writer for writing something in this genre! I feel like we don't have enough content that falls into the proper dark/magic category.
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Child death and Murder
Minor: Homophobia and War