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Reviews tagging 'Drug use'
A Dark and Hollow Star – Nichts ist gefährlicher als ein Märchen by Ashley Shuttleworth
24 reviews
hannahwhiteyy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Grief
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Trafficking, Stalking, and Alcohol
biancas_library's review against another edition
- 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? No
3.5
Next to that, I also really loved how realistic the book was! Not only was the faerie world directly interwoven with the human world (whereas most of the time it is either a world completely different than ours or the faerie world is accessible through a portal), the characters also used stuff like human technology and referenced human culture (Dungeons & Dragons, Mario Party etc) quite a bit. My favorite and most realistic line though was Arlo having to pee in the middle of the showdown! That would so be me!
Now apart from that I have to say the book fell a little bit flat for me. A lot of it was really dragged out and could have been much shorter. A huge part of that were the chunks of world building that were dropped on the reader every once in a while. The world just kept getting bigger and bigger. Personally, I also didn't really feel like the characters were given much individuality, especially with Aurelian and Vehan (this could also be because we got way less chapters from their point of view; I actually wished there had been more equal distribution since most of the book was told from Arlo's perspective). Because of that I didn't quite make a connection with the characters.
Lastly, I wasn't the biggest fan of the whole storyline with the die Arlo was given; it felt a bit like a computer game?
However, the epilogue made me excited to see how the story continues. I really hope, the author gives the characters more depths in the sequel!
Graphic: Child death and Violence
Moderate: Drug use
Minor: Suicide
jenny_librarian's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
3.0
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.
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
- 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
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Murder
fthepatriarchy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
nausicaä’s character development GAH i love her so bad?? n she looks so pretty on the front cover …
VEHAN my baby </3
the mutual pining between vehan and
ALSO the amount of represntation … the nonbinary deity oh my god and nausicaä correcting people when they misgendered them 😭 AND THE HUNTER THAT USES NEOPRONOUNS. this is the first book ive come across w a character that uses neos and let me just say i fucking screamed.
im so so so excited for the next book omg 2022 can’t come fast enough </3
Graphic: Child death, Suicide, and Violence
Moderate: Drug use, Mental illness, Kidnapping, and Cannibalism
Minor: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, and Fire/Fire injury
thecourtofreading's review against another edition
- 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."
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Drug use, Gore, and Blood
Minor: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Racism
trilby's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Minor: Child death, Drug use, Gore, Racism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, and Stalking
alibader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
The only aspect that saved this book and makes me want to pick up the sequel is the characters, I thought they were very entertaining to read about and the romantic buildup was well written.
Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, and Stalking
Moderate: Gun violence and Grief
Minor: Body horror, Racism, Suicide, Vomit, Medical content, and Murder
melaniereadsbooks's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
I was immediately hooked by Nausicaa's point of view. She is so sarcastic and absolutely hilarious, but also super passionate! I love her so much. And then there were a bunch of other pov's I also loved! Arlo, Vehan, Aurelian! There are so many interesting characters in this book!
The plot is also great. There is a lot going on, but it comes together super well and it isn't hard to follow at all. There is enough mystery to really be left on the edge of your seat!
I absolutely cannot wait for the sequel to this one!
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Drug use and Emotional abuse
booksthatburn's review against another edition
My one regret by not finishing this is I won’t know how things resolve for Tisiphone, but there’s too much extraneous stuff around her very interesting backstory for me to get fully into this one thing I like.
Moderate: Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Body horror and Suicide
Full CWs provided from the Author’s Note. TWs may be incomplete. CW for anger, arson, blood/gore, body horror (minor), death of a child, depression, disownment, divorce, drug use/addiction, grief/grieving, human trafficking, poverty, psychopathy, stalking, suicide (past, off-page), suicidal ideation, toxic relationship/manipulation, trauma/PTSD, racism, violence/gun violence. TW for Harry Potter reference (page 169).