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straykat1206's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.75
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Rape, Suicide, Terminal illness, Excrement, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
christinesreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Torture
Moderate: Alcoholism, Miscarriage, Rape, Violence, Stalking, and Murder
jashanac's review against another edition
4.75
I might change this rating from 4.75 to 5, but right now the pacing of this one is stopping me from going up to 5. All three of the other books I really flew through, regardless of their length. I was ENGROSSED the entire time. With this one, it is quite a bit longer for one thing, but there was a chunk in the middle area that I wasn't quite as gripped by or engrossed in.
Fermin is absolutely one of my all-time favorite characters! I absolutely adore him.
The ending here was a bit long, I felt -- all of the part with Julian giving exposition about his life. But I didn't hate it as I see some people -- it felt satisfying to me.
I really don't feel like I have the words to properly express how much I adore this entire series, though. Calling it a masterpiece in Gothic literature is absolutely valid, and I was simply engrossed with essentially every bit of this story.
Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, and Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Rape, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Miscarriage
narsere's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Body horror, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Miscarriage, Rape, and Sexual assault
Minor: Death of parent
clarabooksit's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Drug abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Cancer and War
lilyadams's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
The only reason I took away a star is that some of zafon's female characters feel a bit 2D. All the women are femme fatales and largely unrealistic. The other reason is the brief marital rape scene. It comes fairly near the end and is only a few paragraphs long and is stopped before its started but it still took me by surprise and made me feel quite uncomfortable. Whilst i understand that COFB is quite grim as a whole, I'm of the opinion that detailed sexual assault scenes really aren't at all needed and this one was so random and upsetting that I feel it was completely unnecessary to the point where it made a 5 star book less than that.
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Rape and Sexual violence