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piperclover's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I'm not really sure how to rate this one. I very nearly gave up on it numerous times because it got really slow and slogged and I felt like we weren't getting enough of the fantastical magical other world elements that I wanted.
This is a very family relations and family politics heavy so if that's something you don't enjoy you probably shouldn't try this. There are a lot of elements of fantastical magical creatures and other worlds and other worldly politics but they're sort of a side feature until the end.
That being said I really really love the last third of this book which is what makes it hard for me to pinpoint my actual rating. It's slow to get into and it's quite info dumpy so I didn't really enjoy the first quarter very much and then the middle dragged a bit but the ending was so fast and interesting.
There's a twist that I never saw coming and maybe other people will find it obvious but it hit me out of nowhere and was so emotionally twisting. I had no idea how to feel and I didn't even know whose side I was supposed to be on. The romance will definitely not be everyone's cup of tea becauseJena's pet frog Grogu turns out to be her presumed dead older cousin Kosti. She's been living with this frog for 9 years and she takes it everywhere and brings it to every single occasion and sews special pockets into her dresses so that she can take her pet frog everywhere she goes and so that he can hear and experience everything she does because he's a magical talking frog. As the book goes on, Jena begins having visions of an otherworldly creature man that she feels romantically towards which she assumes is the future but it turns out to be Kosti returned to human form. So yes, there is incest in this because Kosti and Jena are first cousins by blood. .
At first, I was a bit taken aback by this but bc this is deeply folkloric and set an undetermined amount of time in this past, it feels accurate to the context of the story.
This is a very family relations and family politics heavy so if that's something you don't enjoy you probably shouldn't try this. There are a lot of elements of fantastical magical creatures and other worlds and other worldly politics but they're sort of a side feature until the end.
That being said I really really love the last third of this book which is what makes it hard for me to pinpoint my actual rating. It's slow to get into and it's quite info dumpy so I didn't really enjoy the first quarter very much and then the middle dragged a bit but the ending was so fast and interesting.
There's a twist that I never saw coming and maybe other people will find it obvious but it hit me out of nowhere and was so emotionally twisting. I had no idea how to feel and I didn't even know whose side I was supposed to be on. The romance will definitely not be everyone's cup of tea because
At first, I was a bit taken aback by this but bc this is deeply folkloric and set an undetermined amount of time in this past, it feels accurate to the context of the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Sexual assault
bekah445's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Torture
dannecingqueen's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Violence, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
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