Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

These Witches Don't Burn by Isabel Sterling

43 reviews

emilyrose_isreading's review against another edition

emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

I surprised myself a bit by how much I enjoyed this book however it helped that I felt that it was almost adjacent to a cozy mystery, with Hannah working in a witch themed shop for tourists and becoming an amateur sleuth almost in order to figure out what was going on. The romance was sweet and felt very realistic (some LGBTQIA+ books make same sex couples 'normal', which would be nice irl but the mild homophobia and having characters in the closet brings the story to life despite the magical elements).
The witchcraft was also worked in nicely in a way that still made the book feel realistic, witches can't do everything with their magic and because they're hiding in plain sight they were just like normal people but with a secret.
This is a novel for teens so they characters felt a bit young at times however I enjoyed it enough that I want to read the sequel and would suggest this to other young adults who don't mind younger characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Grief

Minor: Biphobia, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Blood, and Lesbophobia

jadehusdanhicks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.75

Loved this reading.  Magic and covens with sapphic riddled through out - including not only the MC’s first ex gf but also another budding potential love interest.  

Unexpected villians and betrayals left me shocked and I’m so glad I own the second as ill be reading it asap. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

malupastafrola's review against another edition

adventurous tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Biphobia, Homophobia, Sexual content, Vomit, Kidnapping, and Lesbophobia

solarel's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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

I’ll give this one a flat 3 out of five enjoyment from me. Honestly the first half felt gimmicky and flat. It was a lot, and I mean a lot, of telling not showing. Often times repeatedly. 

But! The second half really picked up and once the pieces all fell into place the story actually took hold. The stakes increased with every mistake and Hannah’s reactions felt very real. I don’t cry for books often and twice I was tearing up. 

For a YA some of the silly teen-isms are to be expected. I’m glad I pushed through to read the second half. It was fun. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Biphobia, Genocide, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Stalking, and Alcohol

emma_the_reader_girl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Bullying, Death, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

rowanrelph's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Car accident, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Confinement

Minor: Animal death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

moonstruck_next_friday's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional lighthearted mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

A good mix of spooky themes and lesbian fluff. It’s so much fun to hate Veronica and root for Morgan. There’s a couple good twists at the end too. Even though “These Witches Don’t Burn” came out before the prequel “This Spell Can’t Last”, I highly recommend reading the prequel first it’ll give great context for the characters actions and decision making. Can’t wait to read the sequel!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

magneto's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

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

2.5

Good premise with sapphic witches but disappointingly predictable from the start. The main character's decisions made no sense at times given what was happening to her, moving the story towards the obvious "reveal" when in-universe it made no sense to behave that way. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Car accident, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Gun violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Murder

iksme's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Oh my god, the blood witch I guessed as soon as they were introduced. But the witch Hunter, OMG I did not see that coming. That plot twist had hands! But oh I loved this book, no one is who you think that are.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Blood, Medical content, and Murder

Minor: Biphobia, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol

lucyselim's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

3.5

I really don't know how to feel about this book. On the one hand I love the representation and the story is pretty decent, if somewhat predictable, but I also just felt something lacking. However, I know I would have loved this book more when I was a teenager. To conclude, whilst realising I am not in the target audience, I am still a little disappointed with this book overall, but I love the casual gayness.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Biphobia, Domestic abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, and Lesbophobia