Reviews with content warning for Rape - Die verborgenen Stimmen der Bücher

i really really enjoyed this!! the atmosphere is extremely well established and described, and manages to root itself in a familiar real life example (victorian-esque england?) without implicating the real world and having it encroach on the story. collins is really good at describing the beauty in these small moments, painting picturesque images that really pull you into the world. the magic is a really cool concept that really makes you think specifically about biographical writing and ownership of memories and life- do we have a right to other people’s lives? does one truly own their own memories if shared with others? is it better to forget the things that hurt us or does it hurt us more to have the pain taken away? that being said, the excellent vibes and grounds for rigorous academic analysis will not prevent this book from crushing your heart oh my GOD some of this was heartbreaking (i am insane so i kinda wish those moments had been milked a bit to really emphasise their emotional impact but oh well). i would have rated this 5 stars, but there are a few plot points here and there that simply don’t go as far as one wishes, moments that you think are going to come back later on but are never discussed. overall, this is more concentrated near the end (probably sacrificed in order to focus more on the central relationship, which as a recovering romance hater, does not help me recover from hating romance) and honestly just leaves you feeling the slightest bit unsatisfied and yearning for an epilogue at least. overall, i LOVED the first part of the book, but unfortunately the rest of it just ended up going in a different direction than i expected (not necessarily a bad thing tho! still a hella good read!!) it does get VERY dark VERY quickly, so please check the content warnings before you start!!

Content Warnings

mari_books's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad fast-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

4.0

Wow this is the most unique concept for a book I’ve ever read, and so uniquely dark and disturbing. I was very unsatisfied with the ending and felt there were way too many loose ends. The descriptive writing is amazing but I wish the author pulled it in a little, in some places it felt more confusing than helpful when scenes were over described. The first part of the book was very slow and then super fast at the end, I think maybe we could have

heard from Lucian’s pov much earlier so it could be like back and forth?

Huge trigger warning for self harm/suicide, sexual assault, and manipulation

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vidotson's review against another edition

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Expecting a fantasy book that explores and interesting concept? Don’t read this, the summary and marketing lied!

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amelia_turner284's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny sad medium-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

5.0

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jillianihoward's review against another edition

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I did not want to read a romance at all, and this book turned out to be very little fantasy and all romance. Moreover, the romance was largely physical and I strongly dislike that energy. Not a fan of the beginning either, as it was so incoherent (purposefully) at times. Don’t read unless you want a story about two gay young adults/teens whose attraction to each other isn’t allowed

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shauna_grenead's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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circehighgarden's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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halellery's review against another edition

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Intriguing premise, sloppy execution.

This seems to be my main trouble lately with the books I pick up. I'm developing a phobia of beginning new books, for having been so underwhelmed so often. And my 'dropped' list keeps growing.

Like seriously, binding up your bad memories in books so that you don't have to remember, and the people who practice that craft. That could have gone places. I was sold two sentences into the book summary.

And then, it flopped.

Flowery prose and a rambling, whiny narrator is a particularly unattractive combination for me, I'm finding. To top it off here it comes coupled with first person POV, which more often puts me off, rather than help toward further immersion.

Not to mention that very alluring premise, which remains forevermore undeveloped.

I'm told the book gets notably better in the second part. It might, at that.

But I'm past the point in my life where I was generous enough to plough through watery mush to get to the supposed 'good parts'.

Kudos to Carl Prekopp for lending his voice to the audiobook version. He's cool. He made the hours I wasted on this at least bearable.

ALSO, I just discovered through a random review that there is a particularly brutal murder of a puppy in the second half of the book.
That's a trigger for me, which I would have appreciated being warned about in some manner, thanks a lot, Collins.
You now go straight to my blacklist for that.*

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