Reviews with content warning for Death - This Gilded Abyss

Reviews tagging 'Death'

This Gilded Abyss by Rebecca Thorne

14 reviews

sundae_cone's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense 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? Yes

3.75

+ A good, quick, intense read; pulls you in for it
+ May be up your alley if you're a Bioshock and/or Arcane fan
- Not as perfect for Gideon the Ninth fans though
- Inconsistent pacing
- Dull cliffhanger (but this was a bit expected as a series)

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jenpen's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.25

I reeeeally wanted to like this book. The author is a lovely person, I was excited to try out a new genre, and the plot seemed really interesting!

But I just could not get myself to like *any* of the characters. The MC in particular was supposed to be a super strong female lead, but she just cried and got herself rescued the entire book. In addition, it was slow and super repetitive, to the point that I skimmed the last half. The twist at the end didn’t excite me. The humor felt forced most of the time. Even though it’s marketed as horror, it was less scare and more gore.

The writing at a sentence level is pretty and great quality, and the world was interesting. But the lack of a single lovable character is probably what did it in for me. I guess this book just wasn’t for me, unfortunately. Still, I’ll definitely be giving the author’s cozy fantasies a try!

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osladek's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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n0elle's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Lesbian enemies to lovers on a submarine with political scheming and a lot of death.

I am not quite sure about this. It was a quick read and everything happened so fast it was hard to put the book down. But at the same time it made everything feel rushed and superficial.
The world building was very sparse, so much that when religious lore was suddenly introduced it felt misplaced.

If you like entertaining fast paced books about adventures and murders on a submarine, set in a queer-normative world without having to think too much about the general concept then this is for you. If you’re looking for intricate world building and fleshed out characters then maybe this one is not for you.

Please check trigger warnings, this one is quite gory.

3 ⭐️ because of the lesbians and a wild ride of a story.

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building_a_bookdom's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

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dancers_and_dragons's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Thorne does a stunning job of sweeping the reader along into this world, where mysteries run rampant and are unfolded as the pages turn. The tension and care and tumult between the characters was perfect to make me feel for them through each chapter, and the attention to detail brought things to life.

While I'd wished for a less ambiguous ending, I'm definitely bittersweet about finishing this book and I'm looking forward to the next installment of this series.

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, Blood, Classism, Death, Colonisation, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, War, Xenophobia, Violence, Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcohol, Cursing, Medical content, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Body horror, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Gaslighting, and Religious bigotry

Sexual content:

Pages 247-261 on Kindle, unsure of the count on other devices (the first half of chapter 23) contains explicit sexual acts between the two main protagonists. All sexual acts are consensual, but do have a layer of trauma behind them, as they had a previous sexual relationship that ended sourly.

Colonisation/Xenophobia/War: The country the protagonists live in, Valkesh, is at war with another society, the Triolan. From what I can determine from how certain things are explained, these societies do not look different from each other or have different racial features, but they do hold animosity toward each other.

While Thorne does a good job of showing that not all members of either society are a monolith, this progress from their perspective is largely unhelped by the events of the book and there is little to no resolution. One of Nix's best friends is a Triolan, which is further describes under "Betrayal" below. But the Valkesh do hold an upper hand in the war between them and have limited tolerance to listen to alternate points of view besides Kessandra, one of the subarchs in the monarchy.

Betrayal:

One of Nix's squad, Leon, is a Triolan and is working against her and the Valkeshians as a double agent, even though she trained him up and mentored him. His betrayal comes as shock to her and is described with a significant amount of grief and concern. He does attempt to kill her near the end of the book.

Classism: There is a clear hierarchy between civilians and the monarchy, with aspects of wealth and privilege that are mentioned heavily throughout the book and occasionally used as a power play between characters. Emotional abuse/child abuse/confinement:

Kessandra, one of the main characters, does reveal that the primarch/head monarch has kept her confined for years, gaslighted her and the country about the illness they're investigating, and has attempted to kill her multiple times since she was young. While this is not explicitly labelled as abuse by anyone in the book, aspects of it are explicitly described.

Confinement: At various points, the main characters or side characters are confined in rooms for quarantine or in attempts to barricade themselves from others. Also, 90% of the book takes place in a vessel that is travelling beneath the ocean.

robin_reads's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious slow-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? No

5.0

A submarine disaster. A disease (and something more). Two ex girlfriends forced to work together to uncover this mystery. It’s tense, it’s emotional, it’s amazing and definitely worth the read.

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sylsbookcorner's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Oh my GOD this book grabs ahold of you from the start and doesn’t let up til the final sentence! I am emotionally destroyed and I need the sequel immediately! Rebecca has a way of writing characters that you immediately fall in love with and this book is no exception, Nix and Kess are complicated, messy, and I ADORE them. This book had everything, it has suspense, action, horror, spice, and one hell of a cliffhanger. I can’t wait for the second book!!

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livtinja's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I thoroughly enjoyed Rebecca Thorne's Tomes & Tea cozy fantasy series and was incredibly excited to receive an ARC for her new book. While I'm not typically a horror fan, the warnings that accompanied this book made me apprehensive as I started each new chapter. It felt as if I were walking through a haunted house, anticipating something to jump out of the closet. And indeed, it did happen in the second part of the book. I lost count of how many times things went from bad to worse for our characters. However, overall, the level of concern for the characters was manageable without causing any nightmares.

Rebecca's exceptional writing makes you genuinely care about all the characters, including the main characters who are strong, lovable, and perfectly flawed, as well as the villains in the story. Their motivations are solid, and you can truly see things from their perspective.

The world-building and the central mystery are incredibly well-executed. There is some foreshadowing, but you have no idea how deep the rabbit hole will go.

There was only one spicy scene in the book, but it was exceptionally well-done. I mean, really good. It left me yearning for a prequel that delves into all the fun Nix and Kess had when they first met, focusing solely on their seduction and passion.

For now, I eagerly await the second book. I cannot wait to see where the overall story will take us and look forward to encountering new villains.

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cozy_faerie's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

I received this book as an arc. I was a little worried about the horror part for someone who is an absolute scaredy cat and loves calming cozy things. I mostly stick with fantasy and romance. I loved this book. I absolutely cannot wait to see how the rest of Nix and Kess’s story play out. I loved the world building and appreciate the amazing banter between the main characters. I also liked the mystery of trying figuring out what was going on. This book was an easy 4.5, definitely a book I would recommend. If you like good banter and a good story, pick up this book.

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