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Reviews tagging 'Death'
A Dark and Hollow Star – Nichts ist gefährlicher als ein Märchen by Ashley Shuttleworth
26 reviews
1quillb's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Oh my GOD this was incredible. Super diverse characters, interesting plotlines, and sooo much pining—an absolutely amazing read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Child death and Toxic relationship
Minor: Suicide
jama_vata's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, and Grief
Minor: Drug use, Mental illness, and Vomit
miabellawymer's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
taras's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I absolutely loved this book. The beginning was very slow paced and towards the end turned into more fast paced which I loved. I also enjoyed the world building and even the info dumping was interesting to me, after a while of reading.
About the characters:
Arlo - my second favourite character, I loved her personality from the start, her insecurities, her fear, she was relatable and I just got her. I loved that she had so many POV chapters.
Nausicaä/Alecto - my absolute favourite! I adored everything about her from the start. Her pain, her revenge, her anger, depression, sarcasm and humour, just everything about her made me love her more and more. I do like the name Alecto more than Nausicaä, and it's easier to pronounce too. I just wish she got more chapters from her POV, hopefully that will happen in the next book!
Vehan - I liked him, felt like there wasn't that much about his character but at times he was interesting and charming.
Aurelian - probably my least favourite character. He had his moments where I liked him but the majority of the time I was just kind of bored with him. I felt like his 4 chapters of POV were pointless and should've been given to Nausicaä instead.
Lethe & the wild hunt- I loved Lethe so much my third favourite, he was so interesting and mysterious! Everything about him made me love him so much. I don't even care if he's a villain (or maybe he's not) but I just loved him along with the rest of the wild hunt, all of them were so interesting too. I hope I get to know more about the others in the next book.
Celadon - my precious spoiled prince, I want more of him in the next book, hopefully he also gets a POV, because he's perfect!
Riadne - THAT ENDING MADE ME LOVE HER?! I LOVE TWISTED AND EVIL WOMEN!
Urielle, Megaera, Luck - I NEED MORE OF THEM I LOVED THEM!
Hero - he was okay, I liked him at first, he got very annoying towards the end but I guess that's what greed does to you, along with jealousy.
The only thing that really bothered me about this book was the lack of racial diversity, since it's set in Toronto and someone in the story even said, the city is very diverse yet the majority of the characters were white?? Just makes no sense. I hope in the next book it'll be more diverse!
Because of that I give this a 4.5 star rating, instead of 5.
About the characters:
Arlo - my second favourite character, I loved her personality from the start, her insecurities, her fear, she was relatable and I just got her. I loved that she had so many POV chapters.
Nausicaä/Alecto - my absolute favourite! I adored everything about her from the start. Her pain, her revenge, her anger, depression, sarcasm and humour, just everything about her made me love her more and more. I do like the name Alecto more than Nausicaä, and it's easier to pronounce too. I just wish she got more chapters from her POV, hopefully that will happen in the next book!
Vehan - I liked him, felt like there wasn't that much about his character but at times he was interesting and charming.
Aurelian - probably my least favourite character. He had his moments where I liked him but the majority of the time I was just kind of bored with him. I felt like his 4 chapters of POV were pointless and should've been given to Nausicaä instead.
Lethe & the wild hunt- I loved Lethe so much my third favourite, he was so interesting and mysterious! Everything about him made me love him so much. I don't even care if he's a villain (or maybe he's not) but I just loved him along with the rest of the wild hunt, all of them were so interesting too. I hope I get to know more about the others in the next book.
Celadon - my precious spoiled prince, I want more of him in the next book, hopefully he also gets a POV, because he's perfect!
Riadne - THAT ENDING MADE ME LOVE HER?! I LOVE TWISTED AND EVIL WOMEN!
Urielle, Megaera, Luck - I NEED MORE OF THEM I LOVED THEM!
Hero - he was okay, I liked him at first, he got very annoying towards the end but I guess that's what greed does to you, along with jealousy.
The only thing that really bothered me about this book was the lack of racial diversity, since it's set in Toronto and someone in the story even said, the city is very diverse yet the majority of the characters were white?? Just makes no sense. I hope in the next book it'll be more diverse!
Because of that I give this a 4.5 star rating, instead of 5.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, and Racism
Moderate: Blood and Murder
Minor: Suicide
jenny_librarian's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
3.0
I was in a slump when I started reading this. The sheer amount of infodumps and worldbuilding nearly put me off altogether. But I pushed through and I kept reading, and it never really got any better.
Part of it is probably due to this book being a debut. Big chunks could have easily been edited out and some sentences would have had much more punch if they’d been shortened to erase some of the purple prose. It’s not bad, but it’s distracting and a bit clunky.
I was slowly familiarizing myself with the character (although I still can barely tell Vehan from Aurelian), and then the whole D&D and seven sins things were dropped in and it was just too much. The whole faerie world was already big enough without including the sins in it. And the whole role play thing with the dice was too much. If you want to make a game type book, then make a game type book. Don’t just drop a role play element in the middle of a novel that had nothing to do with it until then.
I really wanted to enjoy this book (gay fairies in Canada, I mean come on!) but it fell flat for me. I don’t care enough about the characters to continue with the sequel, and the dice thing is just too weird for me anyways.
Part of it is probably due to this book being a debut. Big chunks could have easily been edited out and some sentences would have had much more punch if they’d been shortened to erase some of the purple prose. It’s not bad, but it’s distracting and a bit clunky.
I was slowly familiarizing myself with the character (although I still can barely tell Vehan from Aurelian), and then the whole D&D and seven sins things were dropped in and it was just too much. The whole faerie world was already big enough without including the sins in it. And the whole role play thing with the dice was too much. If you want to make a game type book, then make a game type book. Don’t just drop a role play element in the middle of a novel that had nothing to do with it until then.
I really wanted to enjoy this book (gay fairies in Canada, I mean come on!) but it fell flat for me. I don’t care enough about the characters to continue with the sequel, and the dice thing is just too weird for me anyways.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Trafficking
Moderate: Death, Gore, and Blood
Minor: Body horror, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Grief
yvonne_cl's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Murder
rubybooks's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
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? Yes
4.0
Thank you so much to the publisher for sending me a digital copy of this book for review. A Dark and Hollow Star was one of my most anticipated releases for 2021, and it was so much fun! I love urban fantasy so I was really excited to read it, as I love when fantasy is combined with the real world. This was a great debut from Ashley and I can’t wait to read more by them in the future.
A Dark and Hollow Star contains a murder mystery – ironborn folk are being killed, and the royalty of the Courts don’t seem to want to do anything about it. It falls to four teenagers to investigate, and they are all struggling to fit in in the world. The world-building was a really unique take on the fae. I wish some areas had more development, but this is only the first book of a series so I’m sure we’ll learn more in the future.
I found the beginning a bit slow moving, and the pacing was a bit off, but once we heard more about what was going on I was hooked. It took me a while to be fully invested in all the points of view – mainly because it took a bit more time to get to know Vehan and Aurelian – but by the end I loved them all. I think all the small issues I had will be resolved in the next book, so I’m excited to see how the characters will develop along with the plot.
Let me just talk about one of my new favourite characters – Nausicaä Kraken. She was just so badass and I loved her sense of humour. From the very beginning, we get to see Nausicaä’s struggles and emotions when she is exiled, and what she becomes. She was my favourite point of view by far! I felt Arlo was very relatable. She didn’t want to be thrust into the middle of a murder investigation, but Fate had other plans. I loved seeing Nausicaä and Arlo together – their scenes were my favourite parts.
Vehan definitely keeps his cards close to his chest, especially because of his royal upbringing and the nature of his mother. I’m hoping we get to learn more about him in the future, and see him stand up for what he believes in. His bodyguard, Aurelian, was also a really interesting character and he seemed really sweet too. I’m definitely waiting to see more development in their relationship, but I think there will be more obstacles for them to overcome.
I loved that the cast is comprised of queer characters. There is an f/f and an m/m relationship with the main characters. There’s also a lot of representation in the side characters, such as a range of pronouns being used. It was so cool to just see a lot of queer characters living their lives in this fantasy world where homophobia isn’t the big issue they are fighting against. If you are looking for specifics, this is what Ashley Shuttleworth says in their goodreads review:
Arlo—questioning (later to be confirmed pansexual)
Nausicaä—lesbian
Vehan—bisexual
Aurelian—gay
Luck—genderfluid
This book does have some content warnings, so be aware of these: discussions of grief, death and depression. Shuttleworth touches on some heavy topics, but they do it in a very mindful way. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I’d definitely recommend it – I think it was a good start to a series and I can’t wait to see where the story goes!
4/5 stars
A Dark and Hollow Star contains a murder mystery – ironborn folk are being killed, and the royalty of the Courts don’t seem to want to do anything about it. It falls to four teenagers to investigate, and they are all struggling to fit in in the world. The world-building was a really unique take on the fae. I wish some areas had more development, but this is only the first book of a series so I’m sure we’ll learn more in the future.
I found the beginning a bit slow moving, and the pacing was a bit off, but once we heard more about what was going on I was hooked. It took me a while to be fully invested in all the points of view – mainly because it took a bit more time to get to know Vehan and Aurelian – but by the end I loved them all. I think all the small issues I had will be resolved in the next book, so I’m excited to see how the characters will develop along with the plot.
Let me just talk about one of my new favourite characters – Nausicaä Kraken. She was just so badass and I loved her sense of humour. From the very beginning, we get to see Nausicaä’s struggles and emotions when she is exiled, and what she becomes. She was my favourite point of view by far! I felt Arlo was very relatable. She didn’t want to be thrust into the middle of a murder investigation, but Fate had other plans. I loved seeing Nausicaä and Arlo together – their scenes were my favourite parts.
Vehan definitely keeps his cards close to his chest, especially because of his royal upbringing and the nature of his mother. I’m hoping we get to learn more about him in the future, and see him stand up for what he believes in. His bodyguard, Aurelian, was also a really interesting character and he seemed really sweet too. I’m definitely waiting to see more development in their relationship, but I think there will be more obstacles for them to overcome.
I loved that the cast is comprised of queer characters. There is an f/f and an m/m relationship with the main characters. There’s also a lot of representation in the side characters, such as a range of pronouns being used. It was so cool to just see a lot of queer characters living their lives in this fantasy world where homophobia isn’t the big issue they are fighting against. If you are looking for specifics, this is what Ashley Shuttleworth says in their goodreads review:
Arlo—questioning (later to be confirmed pansexual)
Nausicaä—lesbian
Vehan—bisexual
Aurelian—gay
Luck—genderfluid
This book does have some content warnings, so be aware of these: discussions of grief, death and depression. Shuttleworth touches on some heavy topics, but they do it in a very mindful way. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I’d definitely recommend it – I think it was a good start to a series and I can’t wait to see where the story goes!
4/5 stars
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Grief
mirandavictoria's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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? Yes
4.75
This book was incredible! The plot was gripping, the characters were loveable, and the magic system was immensely intriguing. I loved reading a book set in Toronto, as it provided a unique reading experience for me, as someone who lives near there. The pop culture references were witty and very well done - something that can be hard to do, as they can get cheesy. The LGBTQ+ and mental health rep was also very well done and refreshing to see. Overall, a magically enjoyable read!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder
sarahdh's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Mental illness, Suicide, and Grief
thecourtofreading's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
"heroes went through so much hardship. heroes were the stuff of tragedies."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Drug use, Gore, and Blood
Minor: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Racism