Reviews tagging 'Death'

True Crown - Die Lady und der Lord Magier by Olivia Atwater

36 reviews

chichisode's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

if Pride and Prejudice had a baby with Howl's Moving Castle. finished this in half a day, best decision of my life. cured my reading slump.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Slavery, Medical content, Trafficking, and War

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

kbairbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional relaxing 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

4.25

This was cute! I read this for my Bookclubs April pic and I really enjoyed it! I will say that I struggled with the split soul concept because if you replace that with autism you can see how poorly people with differences are treated. But I liked this book and how advocate-y it was for the oppressed and underprivileged.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Medical trauma, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

seforaflorian's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Classism

micheala's review against another edition

5.0

This was such a cute romance. Like there was nothing ground breaking about it, but I'm such a sucker for a low angst romance. 

It was a particularly pleasant surprise as I had previously picked up Ten Thousand Stitches by the same author and read the first chapter and didn't really enjoy it. So I was a little nervous that this was going to be the same and it was just not going to be for me. However, once I picked it up I ended up really enjoying Dora. 

I loved that this looked like it was going to be an enemies to lovers situation, but Dora just refused to give Elias that energy back. It took a little while for me to like Elias, but as the story progresses he stops feeling like an ass and just starts feeling like a grump. 

I was also a big fan of how the ending was handled, I can't be anymore specific without spoiling it, but it was exactly what I was hoping for. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Slavery, Blood, Kidnapping, War, and Injury/Injury detail

sustainably_lucia's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book is magical and whimsical but also profound and very real. I loved Dora’s perspective on things and I can relate to her being made to feel “other” or “less than” simply because she experiences the world differently than others. The writing was witty and thoughtful in how it examines parts of society that we often avoid looking at out of politeness. The time period and setting really suited the story and the message the author wanted to convey. I loved it from beginning to end!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Classism

Moderate: Child death and Death

Minor: Grief and War

valpuri's review against another edition

dark funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Blood, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, and Pregnancy

silasreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring lighthearted sad 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism

Minor: Child death, Death, Blood, and Death of parent

This book is about someone who had half her soul stolen, which leads to an autistic coded character. Despite the negative implications, I thought the book did well at unpacking the negativity- until the very last line. Might just be a personal gripe, but I figured I would warn people. This book has a fix-it undertone about neurodivergence.

rinku's review against another edition

adventurous informative lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

I don’t have too much to say about Half a Soul since I quite enjoyed it and the cozy vibes it had. Because of this, it’s not the most exciting book but sometimes, even I like to read a more light-hearted book. 

This book follows Dora who, after her mom made a deal with a faerie, lost half of her soul which leads to her struggling with reading social cues. While she’s with her aunt and cousin in London where they are supposed to find husbands, she meets Elias who wants to help her with her soul. At the same time, there’s a mysterious sickness going on in London and they both try to find a way to heal it. 

In my feeling though, the book is more character-driven than plot-driven. It’s quite focussed on Dora and her trying to navigate London’s high society. I furthermore liked the topics that were reflected on in the course of the story, like the brutality of war, classism, and the link between sickness and poverty. Of course, the love interest Elias plays a big role as well. It was quite random how they met but I for once liked the banter between them. The ending was exciting as well with

Dora being captured in the Faerie world and meeting her other half. The ending was quite satisfying with the Faerie being killed and the captured kids returning

. 

I haven’t read many historical fantasies before, especially not ones taking place in the regency era. To be honest, I barely know anything about it, and I sometimes had the feeling that I lacked some of the historical context. Still, it was interesting, and I learned something about this time period. 

Additionally, Dora is a great and very likable main character. Atwater confirmed here on Goodreads what I already thought: that Dora is neurodivergent coded which I really love. It’s nice as well that in the end, she’s

not “healed” but stays the way she is, at least until she returns to the Faerie world

. It was a bit cliché how she has no parents anymore, but oh well. All the other characters besides her are likable as well and I even liked the romance which is rare for me in these times lmao. Also, can we talk about the amazing fact that men are allowed to cry in this novel? 

Half a Soul is an enjoyable and light-hearted read that still is able to talk about serious topics like war or poverty. Furthermore, the characters are so likable, and the historical setting is interesting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Misogyny, and Classism

Moderate: Death, Medical content, and War

Minor: Death of parent and Pregnancy

a_libra_library's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Trafficking, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

avie_j's review against another edition

hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Emotional abuse, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Violence and Death of parent