Reviews tagging 'Miscarriage'

L'ombra della notte by Deborah Harkness, Cristina Volpi

93 reviews

mads_reads_books's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Confinement, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Miscarriage and Misogyny

caitlinpfry's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.5

There were a very areas of the story that seemed distracted and not necessary to move the story forward. 

I am in love with how much the author has weaved in from actual history into this books as it makes my late night research wormholes much more worthwhile than TikTok doomscrolling 😂

I will say Diana is incredibly patient with Matthew and his middle school girl moods 😅

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Miscarriage, Violence, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

bookwyrmjulia's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Miscarriage and Pregnancy

Minor: Sexism

emo_erudite's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

3.5

So much of this book is set in the past, in Elizabethan England. The historical aspects of it were intriguing to me for multiple reasons. We get to see the roles of different types of women and their parts of running a household. There were a lot of little details the author threw in about life back then, which tells me she did her research. One such thing is how you used to have to get to the palace by boat. The city of London and its surroundings are so ancient, but it used to look so different that parts of it would be unrecognizable now to someone that lived back then. 

The writing was superb, but I hated how Matthew was such a dick most of the time. And it was like Diana just took it. That was what made me lower my rating from 4.75 stars to 3.5. It’s hard for me to imagine a modern woman, and a feminist at that, putting up with that man’s BS. Outside of needing her magic lessons, I’m surprised she didn’t kick him to the curb on more than one occasion.

Especially after that first miscarriage- he was acting like a total twat, getting lost in his own shit and coming home high on drugs, without even considering her feelings.

He could seriously be really selfish sometimes, but I guess that’s entitled men in Elizabethan England? Women were basically property and second class citizens. But I guess in some ways it’s a good thing that they worked through their differences so that he could make the kind of character development we all wanted to see. So I guess overall, I didn’t like some of the plot points that it took to get there, but I can’t change it. 

I did like how there was kind of back and forth between Matthew and Diana in the past and the rest of the family in the present, so there wasn’t a ton for the readers to catch up on when they got back. It was cool how the family tracked down the painted miniatures and other little trinkets from their time in the past. This was also a smart way to introduce Phoebe into the story, since she was an employee at the auction house.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage and Pregnancy

Moderate: Alcoholism, Misogyny, Violence, and Pregnancy

Minor: Drug abuse

elizkacz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Miscarriage

_sophs_book_nook_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Miscarriage

gillian_aftanas's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Antisemitism, and Alcohol

johannaplatt's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

Matthew is an arsehole, and Diana is insufferable. Their toxic relationship is a chore to read. The most interesting characters are the supporting ones - would have loved to have more time with Goody Alsop and co. I am hate reading this trilogy now tbh as the overall plot is interesting, it's just a shame that the misogynistic undertones are so obvious. Additionally, stop trying to make ruffs sexy. It's not gonna happen.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

zoenelson's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious 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

4.25

Second books in a series often struggle to live up to their prequel and this one suffered in the same way. It covered a lot, to be fair, but to me pacing was a major issue. We spent 200 pages doing little to advance the plot, which was then shoved in throughout the book in sometimes rushed and uncomfortable ways. 

I think Harkness also struggled to balance the many conflicts raised in the first book, on top of introducing a whole new cast of historical characters. The conflicts between Matthew and Diana, as well as with others, felt manufactured in this novel. 

Despite the shortcomings, there was a lot to love: some of the new characters enriched the story (Pierre, Gallowglass, the children,

Phillipe

); the depiction of Elizabethan England and Prague was exciting; the magic system is complex and interesting; the love between our main characters is believable and beautiful; and the vignettes back in the future were amazing.

I have hope she's setting us up well for the final book in the trilogy!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Miscarriage and Blood

Minor: Torture, Violence, and Pregnancy

amy_reading_23's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.75

I enjoyed this book a lot more than the first one. It's possibly one of the best historical novels I've read as it does truly bring Elizabethan England to life. There was also a lightheartedness to this novel that the first one lacked. I also enjoyed the more focused exploration of witchcraft. 

The only reason I won't give it 4 stars is because I still don't like how Matthew treats Diana. Mostly he is better than the first book but that's not saying much. He is still abusive and its still excused as being because of his vampirism and past. It is such a shame as without that these would be great books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail