Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Soul Eater by Lily Mayne

21 reviews

wils7501's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I read this book one in ebook form but Have listened to the audiobook 5 times. The book is fantastic but the narration by Michael Lesley bring it to life in an amazing way. the voices he uses and the accents bring Danny, Wyn and even Edin to life. 

I never really read a monster romance before reading this that wasn't in a "PNR Shifter" category, except for a series with aliens. This tale of a post apocalypse world over run by "monsters" was an exciting mix of reality, fantasy, action, horror, romance, and comedy. It's a fairly lighthearted feeling book but the setting is less than light. It is told in Danny's POV but the way that Wyn is portrayed is sympathetic to his character. He is thought to be a horrible monser, killing for the sake of killing, but he is so much more. Danny slowly discovers that Wyn has a heart. 

While this book is mostly lighthearted there are some difficult things that the characters go through. there are parts that are humorous and fun and parts that are heartbreaking. The narration for Danny through these parts is great, but the way that Wyn is portrayed is incredible. I rewind just to relisten to parts with Wyn's voice. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Torture

Moderate: Death of parent

fuzzywilson's review

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Homophobia, Blood, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Gore, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, and Death

dearcornelia's review

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, and Sexual content

Moderate: Homophobia and Death

Minor: Death of parent

aytac's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative lighthearted mysterious sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Kidnapping, Medical content, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, War, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Gore, Torture, and Murder

shadowspinner's review

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, and Body horror

Moderate: Death

Minor: Death of parent

basrina's review

medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content

Moderate: Homophobia, Gun violence, Confinement, Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Cursing

Minor: Death of parent

petrel's review

dark emotional 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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Sexual content

Moderate: Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Confinement, Cursing, Grief, and Death

Minor: Classism and Death of parent

elwyn_k's review

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Blood, Body horror, and Gun violence

Minor: Homophobia and Death of parent

booksnbrooches's review

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Sexual content, War, Violence, Torture, Physical abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Blood, Confinement, Cursing, and Death of parent

whatthefridge's review

dark emotional hopeful 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

4.5

This story hit upon many of my guilty pleasures. The cherry on top is Danny is functionally demisexual (it’s not an explicit label, but he did assume he was fully asexual before Wyn) and Wyn is fantasy-level intersex (he’s not human so I think he can get a pass for having both a penis and a vagina, both perfectly good for fucking).

The majority of the plot is a meandering road trip with no goal in mind. They’re just taking things a day at a time. But it worked for me. And there was always some sort of stakes or tension, and I felt like there was a decent balance between external threats and interpersonal relationship stuff. 

The reason why it’s not a full 5 stars is because I have many lingering unanswered questions…

Spoiler

 
- How did Wyn discover Daniel’s name? We never find out 
- What are the odds that something on Daniel’s military stuff has a secret tracking device? It was nagging at me the entire time
- How come every single place they come across has working hot water? Or just any running water at all. It’s a little too convenient after a while
- Why didn’t Daniel react to the fact that he wakes up in a random bed of someone long forgotten? Just no reaction at all after making such a big deal out of it. And then there’s the casual use of the towels, which are not motel towels. These had to have been used towels from ages ago, but it’s entirely glossed over
- How did the military discover that Daniel was having sex with Wyn? There’s not even an offhand mention of seeing them together in any intimate way, like holding hands, it’s just thrown in like it’s a publicly known fact (there’s demons later on that act the same way, like everyone knows Daniel and Wyn are together somehow without ever mentioning how they know this)
- How did no one at the military base notice that Wyn’s head was growing back? They had Wyn’s body ready to dissect but somehow never noticed such a glaring detail??
- If it took Edin years to grow back an arm, how did it only take days for Wyn to grow back half his head? Is it because they’re different species? I wish the concept was brought up even if it was just a one line hand wave
- How did Wyn even get them out of the military base that second time? Did Wyn have to slaughter his way through while carrying Daniel’s body?

None of these questions ruined the experience for me. It’s just stuff that kind of nags at me. 

What *did* bug me more than it should have was

Spoiler

the reveal that Wyn sensed Daniel was meant for him since the beginning. I dunno, I just preferred the idea that Wyn was merely curious about the human who didn’t try to kill him and then feelings grew from there. I’m not against mate-bond stuff, but it does take away some agency from characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Violence, Gore, and Torture

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Body horror

Minor: Sexual assault and Death of parent