Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Song of the Forever Rains by E.J. Mellow

6 reviews

micaelamariem's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

3.0

I was drawn in by the pretty cover and convincing blurb. The writing style was so prosaic and beautiful at first that it had me hooked for a while. Then it kind of fell flat. I think my first disappointment was that for something that’s labeled a “dark fantasy” it really wasn’t all that dark. The characters made choices that rendered them more like YA characters than adult characters (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but I found it to be unbelievable for their experience and circumstances). I think the dialogue tags ruined the dialogue as well. Their spoken words alone were fine but when added with these adult women “grumbling” and “puffing” while trying fight against certain death, it just doesn’t feel like the right timing. 
Plus the book was full of cliches, I could practically guess what would happen next, at least with the love interest. But idk if it’s the book or if I’m just in some weird slump and hating everything. 
But I really do think the biggest thing is it needed to be darker. I’ve read YA fantasy’s not labeled as dark fantasy and they were darker than this. I probably unfortunately won’t continue the series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

dragonqueen10741's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny medium-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, and Torture

Moderate: Death of parent

ender24's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

A entertaining and wonderful book. I’ve fallen in love with the world and it’s characters, and I can’t wait to read the next two books. I was not expecting the romance, but I feel like it did not impede the story in any way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, and Sexual harassment

emmasrambles's review against another edition

lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

izzy_reads's review against another edition

medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Physical abuse, and Torture

Moderate: Death of parent

thereadinghammock's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

I love, love, loved the Bassette sisters and their supportive, and authentic sibling dynamic. Petty squabbles among themselves never once undermined the support, love, and trust they all have in each other. I actually used the notes feature on my Kindle for the first time pretty much ever and marked my theories and predictions (pretty much all of which turned out to be wrong, but that was entirely expected) because I was so enthralled by this book and needed to have those notes forever because reasons. While I don't mind the slow burn of Larkyra and Darius' romance, I would have liked a bit more of a stolen/secret romance between them, rather than just the last few chapters. As much as it played like a "will they/won't they" when we all knew they would, I wanted to see so much more between them!

Though I did love that their first time together was literally the night before her engagement ball to his trash-human stepfather. It felt like the most wonderfully poetic "fuck you" to him I could imagine and it pleased me greatly.

The world of Aadlior is fascinating and I can't wait to dive back in with book 2 this fall as we follow Niya's story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Despite the pretty extensive explicit warnings, they were handled in such a way that as a reader, I did not feel truly uncomfortable while reading; however, it is important to know that gaslighting abuse from step-parent to child is a prominent theme through the book. While resolved by the end, and the character themself feeling vindicated, it's an important, but heavy plot line.