Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

One Night in Hartswood by Emma Denny

31 reviews

magic_multicolored_miracle's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-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

4.0

A delightful romantic romp, between two young men who are smart when it comes to other people, but incredibly dumb when it comes to one another. The will-they-won't-they keeps you on edge through every twist of their journey, and the book will keep you on edge until the very last page. 
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booksthatburn's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-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

5.0

ONE NIGHT IN HARTSWOOD is everything I hoped for, and more; a gay romance which mostly takes place during a several week journey by horse, as one man returns home and the other flees an oppressive household. I love romances that are built on communication, which is somewhat ironic, given that both Raff and Penn are keeping major parts of their identities secret, even if they talk about everything else. Normally, lying in relationships stresses me out, but the symmetry of the fact that both of them are keeping the same level of secret and don’t know if the other one is safe to trust with it helped it be less stressful for me. 

This is set up to have at least one sequel, though its particular story is self-contained. Rather than leave an obvious story hook open, it ends with the characters in new situations which grant the possibility of future events without demanding any particular follow up. 

I love Penn and Raff, I like them as individual characters and I enjoy how well they work together. They each have very different relationships with their families. Penn seems to be close with two of his several siblings, despite neither showing up for very long. His father is terrible, rather unambiguously playing the villain. Raff has close and mostly loving relationships with his sister and brother, and, despite their differences, they seem to understand each other fairly well. Not much is shown of Raff's relationship with his father, but what is there seems to be filled with respect and care.

Other things I love, in no particular order: how much of the time is spent just traveling and sleeping in the woods and dealing with inns; the wound care towards the end of the book; the way Penn obviously grows as a person; the more subtle ways that Raff starts to trust in other peoples' competence.

This was great, I want more, and I'm eager for the sequel.
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mabellene's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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? No

4.25

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ronan_lesh's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted tense medium-paced
  • 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

5.0

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camillatd's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful

3.5

Fun, indulgent, and adventurous queer historical romance for fans of BBC Merlin and Cat Sebastian. Heavy on the tropes (hurt/comfort, angst, mistaken identity, forbidden love, huddling for warmth, "who did this to you?", etc.), which I found largely enjoyable. 
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crescent_moon22's review against another edition

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adventurous inspiring medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

This was a lovely romance set in the 14th century between two sons of Earls, one from the south and one from the north of England. It featured a who did this to you moment, the characters lying about their true identities, and nights of cuddling out of necessity. Raff teaches Pen how to fight and one session sexual tensions rise. You get to read the perspective of both characters falling in love. Ending with HEA. 
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lexi_air's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-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

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bookboxbabe's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful 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

*thank you netgalley and the publisher for providing me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

WOWW!! okay so just take everyone one of my heart strings and yank them why don’t you.

this author has an AMAZING prose and the writing in the book was so beautiful. i was sold just from that. it’s rare that a book takes my breath away just from the writing alone, but this one did. 

i also LOVED these characters. raff and penn are so complex and just troubled guys trying to find themselves in a world determined to rip them apart. their love felt raw and real. these two men found each other and fell in love in such an organic way and i believed these two were real men in love, not just words on a page.

the spicy scenes in here were written so tasteful and beautiful. i loved the exploration of each others bodies and the insecurity such a thing comes with. i thought all of the self hate was dealt wonderfully.

all in all, i loved reading this and i think this is a book that will stick with me for a while
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ezwolf's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

Okay, so, by all rights I should have loved this book. It's queer, it's historical fiction, it's got angsty backstories. But I could not get in to this for the life of me. 

This is one of those cases where I think it's just not for me. I cannot exactly explain why this didn't grab me, the best I can say is that I found it boring. I wasn't drawn to either Penn or Raff and so it made it hard to be interested in either point of view. By the time the story got to plot points I would have been interested in (like Penn's scars) I was 50% of the way through and I was already just reading for the sake of finishing the story. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper 360 for making this available in exchange for an honest review!
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pitsikakku's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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