Reviews tagging 'Death'

Not Good For Maidens by Tori Bovalino

28 reviews

lizgriffinwords's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-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

4.0

A page-turning and creeptastic YA horror/contemporary fantasy, great for fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The coven’s magic felt somewhat vague to me, but otherwise I greatly enjoyed this book!

CW for death, body horror, maiming

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Gore

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Death

ramunepocky's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

I really liked both of the perspectives in this book, both were separate and strong characters within their own right and they both had stories that, whilst they mirrored each other, were very different. They both had different personality traits and different motives for going into the Market and different points to prove and I enjoyed that. I loved the representation too, giving us both great asexual and bisexual rep !!!! I also loved the contrast between May and Lou, and how May grew up around the Market and was actively drawn to it, but couldn’t stay, and how Lou grew up sheltered from that side of her family history and only reluctantly entered the Market to save her Aunt and wanted to stay. 

This book was far from perfect, but I enjoyed the vibes immensely and it was dark and gothic without rlly being scary. I felt like the conclusion to Lou’s story and her getting her Aunt out of the Goblin Market felt too easy, but I still enjoyed it nonetheless. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Confinement, Torture, and Kidnapping

Minor: Cannibalism

sunshinestark's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

madamenovelist's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

ash_ton's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad 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

when Laura said "I'd do ANYTHING for you May" i cried. idk man 🤧

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Physical abuse, Torture, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Vomit, Kidnapping, and Cannibalism

aliveinbooks's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

 

I will start off by saying this is a good story. The dual point of view from different perspectives was a nice touch to keep you guessing and there is definitely a decent amount of gore that sells the idea of the goblin market. It's great writing and each character stands on their own. That being said this wasn't the book for me. I had a hard time connecting with the adults and adolescents in the story and the amount of beating around the bush was akin to edging in the most frustrating experience for me. I also didn't feel the dark atmosphere the author was trying to convey in the novel. It's a great book overall and good for anyone dipping their toes in soft YA horror.

 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror and Blood

Minor: Death, Violence, and Death of parent

cameronreads's review against another edition

2.0

I think it was abundantly clear that the author of this book was not Jewish. Disclaimer; neither am I, but I think it's important to talk about. As soon as I realised the goblins in this book would be evil characters alarm bells were set off in my head, and since doing some research into the tropes used, I think this book does do harm. There is of course one good goblin, but the general idea is that the goblins are evil and want to hurt people (and eat them on occasion) and have magical blood. All things that are outrageous stereotypes of Jewish people, especially considering goblins have been used as a way to represent and do harm to Jewish people. I'd really recommend looking at some Jewish reviewer's discussions on this. 

My opinions on the plot and characters of this book are rather average. I think the basic idea was there, but something about the pacing and what this book emphasised was off. I wasn't all that attached to the characters, especially because the character we're meant to be saving all through this book is never seen on page until the end. It meant the stakes didn't feel very high. To be honest, I would have read a whole book about one of the point of views (May's) if it had been expanded on and we had got to spend a bit more time with it (and there wasn't such antisemitic themes). 

I do however like the casual queer representation. The main characters are ace and bi respectively, and there's a pan side character, and all of these words are said on page. There's no prejudice against them because of their sexualities, and the main romance is a sapphic one. That was all really nice to see.

I'm really mad about this one - I loved Bovalino's other book and the other goblin market retelling I've read (In An Absent Dream, Seanan McGuire) so I really wanted to love this too. Unfortunate. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Torture, and Grief

Minor: Death of parent

catwhisperer's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Blood, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

katiewhocanread's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, and Torture

mals_library's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Vomit