Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Gothikana

Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Gothikana by RuNyx

22 reviews

nicolea13's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

2.5

So I do realize I got exactly what I expected when I read this book and yet I’m still disappointed. This is the most lukewarm, shallow, uninspired book. To start our main character is the pinnacle of damsel in distress and both her and the MMC are incredibly flat static characters. Not to mention Corvina has the most mild unrealistic case of schizophrenia I’ve ever heard of. While I do realize this book is by no means trying to be a psychological look into the mind of a schizophrenic girl, I do wish if that’s going to be a plot point it was handled with a little more care. (Aka do you research into what schizophrenia is before slapping the name Mo on a lone voice in her head and calling it a day). Regardless of Corvina, don’t even get me started of Vad (crazy that his name is Vad). I still do not understand why he’s into Corvina, aside that some old lady when he was a kid told him he would be. There is nothing driving his motivations outside of pure sexual lust it seems and frankly I find that boring and an ick. ALSO, this was a minor plot point but it really bothered me that the stereotypical mean girl was described that she was a bitch because she was sexually assaulted in her past??? I could unpack why that’s problematic but I think it’s obvious enough. The mystery plot felt like a slap dash after thought and I was unconvinced by any of the plot twists. The world building was weak, the characters were flat, and the plot was like a piece of Swiss cheese. But like I said, I wasn’t really expecting anything more.

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katharina90's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

2.5

I was underwhelmed by the writing, plot and characters, but I loved the setting, moody images and overall dark academia vibes.

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beehanc1929's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

Steamy and intoxicating with a mystery between the walls of a gothic castle. Highly recommend

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spicycronereads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

I have two print copies of this book, so it was a relief when I finally read it and actually enjoyed it. But buckle up, because I have OPINIONS.

Let’s start with the good - the author is very good at setting the scene and establishing atmosphere. She writes rich, lush descriptions that engage all the senses.

Her depictions of Corvina were compelling and it was fun to see her character arc.

Some of the spicy scenes were quite good (the one in the Black Ball? 🔥).

All of that said, I have a lot of gripes about this one. Most of these things could have been fixed with a firm developmental and line edit.

The minor: As much as I love his aesthetic and possessiveness, Deverell is actually fairly flat as a character. Some of the spicy scenes are clumsy or downright terrible. The first seggs scene was awful and had me cringing for Corvina. 😬

As I mentioned above, the author is good at establishing atmosphere. The settings and descriptions establish Verenmore as almost out of time. Corvina seems a bit naive and even old fashioned, but then there would be these moments of dialogue that would completely change the tone. For example,

Corvina telling Vad “good luck getting your 🍆 wet.”

it was so out of place with the overall tone and voice, it was jarring. And there are dialogue moments like that throughout.

The pacing is a bit uneven, with certain scenes feeling rushed. They needed to be given more time to breathe. Like after

finding the weird shack, it never comes up again until the end.

Which brings me to the book’s relationship to Gothic literature. *pushes glasses up the bridge of my nose* Based on the chapter heading artwork and epigraphs, it seems reasonable to assume that RuNyx is a fan of Gothic literature (though that Beetlejuice epigraph felt like a bit of a stretch…). So it was disappointing that the plot left several potentially supernatural loose ends. If the Gothic typically deals with allegory for social anxieties and the female gothic particularly centers on the power of seggsuality, there was such an opportunity to tie the “preternatural” events as she termed them to Corvina’s seggsuality. It could have been so seggs positive and affirming. But by

leaving the possibility of Corvina having schizophrenia and the weird loose ends with the disappearances and five new skulls,

it instead leaves medical and supernatural forces in play. Could have been cool social allegory. Instead it was just a spooky, ghost tale. A definite missed opportunity.

The book does have some representation of schizophrenia though I am not informed enough to know if it was a beneficial representation. No other diverse representation. Which is…strange…in this day and age.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. It kept me entertained. I wish it had had one more pass with a firm editorial hand. Disappointing that Bramble didn’t have her work with an editor once they picked it up. ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 / 🌶️🌶️🌶️

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biancaneve5's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

0.25

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deelightfulreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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ink_and_barley's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
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

So I will admit the writing in this one comes across a little amateurish, in my non expert opinion, and some of the dialogue is a bit cringy. However, over all I enjoyed the read. It’s a good creepy dark academia. Professor/student romance, with an interesting mystery and solid spice.

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