Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Un Río Encantado by Rebecca Ross

19 reviews

minnow's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

This novel has many of the tropes I love: enemies-to-lovers, slow burn, lots of longing, gorgeous descriptions of food and clothing; additionally, the setting is lush and beautiful, with a rich lore. The plot is interesting and hints at mystery, and there are several love-based subplots. I should have loved this book. But I didn't.

It's entertaining and is, in parts, beautifully written. However, it's at best a snack, and not a very filling one. It takes some of the tropes I love and over-uses them until it made my eyes roll every time they popped up in the text--how many times can Jack rake back his hair with one hand? There are so many aching chests that this story needed a cardiologist more than it needed a bard. Every emotion is set at ten, every moment is The Most Dramatic Moment, which reduces every truly heightened emotion and moment to zero. If everything is in stereo, nothing is in stereo.

Yet the world-building is lovely and well-done. I wish it had been focused on more and there had been less romantic navel-gazing and reminiscing performed by secondary characters. The development of the main characters feels abrupt; it's handled better with the supporting characters Torin and Sidra. There is one mildly spicy scene that is well done but feels poorly placed in the narrative.

A beautiful premise that feels shallow. I won't read further into the series as it didn't enchant me.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Self harm, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

rsb12's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Xenophobia, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Chronic illness, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Infertility, Self harm, Sexual content, Medical content, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

alainral's review against another edition

emotional hopeful relaxing medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

cozy_tea_reader's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

Would read this book again. I’m excited to read the sequel, I just couldn’t put the book down it was such a good read and very well written. The world building and characters were really interesting too.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Blood, Kidnapping, and Grief

Minor: Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

The book deals with these themes within a fantasy context and its not graphic but there.

avosage18's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious sad tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Chronic illness, Infertility, Xenophobia, Grief, and War

warlocksarecool21's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious 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

4.5

A River Enchanted was absolutely stunning, a perfect mix of coziness, mystery, and folklore. Rebecca Ross’ writing is so beautiful, I found myself so captivated by the magic, the island and the characters. I felt like I was reading an old fairytale, the magic and the lore was so rich and intriguing. I loved the presence of music and poetry in the world as well. 

All of the characters in this story were so compelling as well. I adored Sidra and I thought Torin was such an interesting character. Sidra’s struggles with her faith and the journey she went on to heal her grief was so well done and impactful. I also really enjoyed watching grizzly Torin grow and change for the better. 

 I did love Jack and Adaira but I felt like Sidra and Torin’s relationship had more depth. I did like the juxtaposition of the two relationships, how Sidra and Torin grew to love each other so deeply despite their faults and initial arrangement. Whereas Adaira and Jack were always destined to be together in whatever capacity. I really hope to see Jack and Adaira’s relationship grow more in the next book, despite the challenges that lay before them. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death, Blood, Death of parent, and Abandonment

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Blood, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death and Violence

naomi_k's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Xenophobia, and Stalking

Minor: Sexual content and War

thewildmageslibrary's review against another edition

4.0

I really liked this, now I want the sequel! There were more POV characters than I expected, but I ended up loving them. This was really family-oriented, but I did love the romance plotlines too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Violence, Blood, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Death, Miscarriage, Grief, and Death of parent

chloemakesbooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-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? It's complicated

2.75

This was fine. I'm not burning to read the next installment, although the book did end on a cliffhanger of sorts. Probably a good thing because it'll probably be 5 years til the next one publishes.
When I read the description to my husband, he said he tuned out after a single sentence, which cracked me up. A lot of mysterious hinting throughout (sigh), partnerships where one partner can't just say what they want/are thinking (HEAVY sigh), and some basic fantasy conventions. Worldbuilding was minimal and based on Celtic lore. Characterization was a bit ham fisted, but I liked them anyway because that's my thing. Writing was forgettable except for the few places I snorted at cliches. (Do authors know you don't HAVE to write sex scenes?) Just not sure I'll remember this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Chronic illness, Miscarriage, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail