dandelionsteph's review
I was so annoyed that Cerys and Fox got into a romantic relationship with each other when nothing about the book's blurb suggested it at all. I was annoyed that, if she was going to get in a romantic relationship with Fox, that it had to unambiguously set in so late in the book, when I had gotten invested in the plot. I don't like profanity, no matter how it's used, but I was particularly annoyed with how long it took for any profanity to show up. It didn't feel justified, given the overall tone of the book: it felt extraneous, like the book was trying to hard to market itself as a "grown-up book" rather than a middle grade book. (As if there's anything wrong with middle-grade.)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Blood
tania_mybookishsecret's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Animal death, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Grief
mandathebiblio's review
adventurous
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Violence, Self harm, and Death of parent
Moderate: Child death
book_siren's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Body horror, and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death of parent, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, War, Body horror, Abandonment, Murder, Violence, Confinement, Death, Genocide, and Kidnapping
brookey8888's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.0
I really enjoyed this. I didn’t guess a plot twist in the first like three pages of the book but that didn’t bother me. I just really liked our characters. I thought they were funny and I really like the chemistry I’m a fucker for romance. I felt the story was interesting and kept me engaged. It kind of reminded me of the bone houses but better. I also love the diversity for sexuality’s in this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexism, Violence, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, and Animal death
joisaddler's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
sad
fast-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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death, Grief, Gore, Murder, and Violence
rain_baby's review
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Violence
Moderate: Cursing and Blood
Minor: Death of parent and Animal cruelty
greeneggsandsam's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
"But I wasn't made for this quest- I was a gardener's daughter. I did not thrive where my roots did not grow."
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Among the Beasts and Briars is a young adult fantasy following the daughter of the royal gardener, Cerys, who belongs to the kingdom of Aloriya. The people of this kingdom have always thought that they are kept safe from the nightmares in the surrounded woods thanks to an agreement made with the "Lady of the Wilds" and the first king. So when the things in the woods attack the village, Cerys is left to find the lady with only a fox's company.
These beautiful covers continue to fool me y'all, because this book was so much darker than I expected going in. And I loved every minute of it. I flew through this book because I could not put it down. I loved the plot line, the descriptions, the twists, and how dark and creepy it got. I don't know why this isn't classed as fantasy horror, but as someone who's learning they love YA horror, I would've picked this up sooner if it had been labeled horror.
It's a pretty fast-passed story, and I can't remember a moment when I wasn't enthralled with what was going on or wondering how everything was going to be turned upside down. I love how everything wrapped up in the end, nicely but not too perfectly- not ignoring all the difficult things that the characters went through. This is an author I'm definitely going to want to pick up more books from!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Among the Beasts and Briars is a young adult fantasy following the daughter of the royal gardener, Cerys, who belongs to the kingdom of Aloriya. The people of this kingdom have always thought that they are kept safe from the nightmares in the surrounded woods thanks to an agreement made with the "Lady of the Wilds" and the first king. So when the things in the woods attack the village, Cerys is left to find the lady with only a fox's company.
These beautiful covers continue to fool me y'all, because this book was so much darker than I expected going in. And I loved every minute of it. I flew through this book because I could not put it down. I loved the plot line, the descriptions, the twists, and how dark and creepy it got. I don't know why this isn't classed as fantasy horror, but as someone who's learning they love YA horror, I would've picked this up sooner if it had been labeled horror.
It's a pretty fast-passed story, and I can't remember a moment when I wasn't enthralled with what was going on or wondering how everything was going to be turned upside down. I love how everything wrapped up in the end, nicely but not too perfectly- not ignoring all the difficult things that the characters went through. This is an author I'm definitely going to want to pick up more books from!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Violence
ashleycmms's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Self harm
valpyre's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
[audiobook]
i only have poston's heart of iron for comparison (a book i greatly enjoyed), and i really think poston has great talent in fantasy worldbuilding. the details of the various locations as well as the people in the book were so compelling and wonderful to hear about in a fantasy setting. at the same time i did feel like this was a relatively middling light listen -- the magic system was sort of abstract enough that you didn't have to think too hard about it, and it was pretty easy to put the pieces of the mystery together well-before the end. that may well have been the point, especially considering the shorter length of the book, but i would've liked a bit less crumb-dropping, personally.
i only have poston's heart of iron for comparison (a book i greatly enjoyed), and i really think poston has great talent in fantasy worldbuilding. the details of the various locations as well as the people in the book were so compelling and wonderful to hear about in a fantasy setting. at the same time i did feel like this was a relatively middling light listen -- the magic system was sort of abstract enough that you didn't have to think too hard about it, and it was pretty easy to put the pieces of the mystery together well-before the end. that may well have been the point, especially considering the shorter length of the book, but i would've liked a bit less crumb-dropping, personally.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Blood
Moderate: Violence and Death of parent