Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Dokkaebi: Vicious Spirits by Kat Cho

5 reviews

ashlightgrayson's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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

I had a lot of fun with this sequel. It focused more on Somin and Junu. Junu seems very nonchalant on the outside, but we get to learn a lot about his history and trauma in this sequel. It made his character more compelling and interesting than he already was. Somin also gets a lot more character exploration, particularly pertaining to her relationship with her mother. Jihoon and Miyoung are still very prominent within the story, but it is clear that this book focused more on the side characters of the first book. I really enjoyed this sequel and it wrapped up the story well. I'd be happy to pick up others works written by Kat Cho. 
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urlocalvocaloidstan's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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? Yes

5.0

 This book was just as great as the previous book in the series, with plenty of drama and romance going on. Even though the story is about Miyoung and Jihoon, this book focused a little bit more on Somin and Junu and their relationship. All the characters have really good writing and backstories that explain their motives. There was so much going on and so many plot twists at the end, but the duology still managed to wrap up really nicely with this book. 
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aseel_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted 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

3.0

this was unfortunately quite disappointing, coming off the first book. while I loved the idea of having the main characters/plot of the first book play a role in this companion novel, I felt like it focuses too much on them, that we didn't really get the actual main characters and then when we went to their pov, it felt silly in comparison to what events we witnessed for the other characters. I also don't like the immoral and young girl romance trope, so there was that. 
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teri_b's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious
  • 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 loved the change of atmosphere that came with this second book.

And again, I think the balance between writing about contemporary YA topics and writing a retelling is very well kept.

This second book, too, has many more ghosts in it than the first one. It gives the story a slightly different twist. 

All in all, I loved reading this book
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booksthatburn's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious reflective relaxing fast-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Vicious Spirits doubles down on the series' focus on the messy nature of relationships (family, friends, romance new and long-buried). Full of danger, anguish, and catharsis; with a supernatural core. A worthy sequel to Wicked Fox; may there be many more.

There’s a mortal/immortal romance with a substantial age gap (at least a century). Their dynamic is full of consent and care, and I really like how it’s handled. The story continues the first book’s theme of establishing and holding healthy boundaries, which includes spending some (or quite a lot) of time in the messy space of trying to figure them out. This creates a story which is deeply concerned with consent, history, kinds of love, and how people navigate these things in their lives. It allows space for mistakes without propping up cruelty, and the overall effect is very cathartic to read. The age gap and its implications are discussed within the text and I think this might be my new favorite treatment of this particular trope. There are also several different portrayals of parent/child relationships, some carrying over from Wicked Fox and some which are newly explored here. I said before that this story is concerned with kinds of love, and that care isn’t limited to romance. It is complex and multi-faceted; familial, platonic, romantic, and probably some more I'm missing. It explores how they go wrong, what it takes to make things go right, and the joy of having someone else’s company. 

Quickly running through my normal book two check: I like this as a sequel. It deals with some lingering effects of the first book while still having its own separate storyline, we learn more about people we already knew pretty well while also highlighting some who didn't get much attention in the first book. I don't know if there's going to be more in the series but it feels like there's a lot that could be explored here if the author decides to continue this series (either with these characters or with different ones in the same setting). The story is robust enough to stand on its own, the decision to center characters that were present in Wicked Fox but not POV characters was a smart one, and I think it worked out very well. 
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