Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

5 reviews

cdoubet's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gun violence, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Sexual harassment

kcmg710's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful inspiring tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and War

Minor: Sexual assault, Vomit, and Sexual harassment

amykwrites's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Cancer, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and War

Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

journeythroughthechapters's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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? No

5.0

Thoughts
I honestly really enjoyed this. I knew I would because beauty and the beast is one of my favourite Disney movies but still.

I loved the dual perspective, I think it added an dimension to the story that helped to explore all the main characters.

I loved Harper she is officially one of my favourite badass female characters. She has such strength and tenacity that I am in awe of. She has cerebral palsy and this does not hinder her in anyway whatsoever and no one treats her differently for it which I loved.

The only complaint I have is what was with that ending. You can't just leave it there. I need more. Hahaha. But seriously no work is flawless and no book is perfect but this was perfect to me. It had me laughing. It had me awwwwing. It had me gasping. Generally if a book can get a verbal reaction out of me it's a 5 star.

Be warned though, it was quite dark which I wasn't expecting. But I read fantasy so it was fine for me. But if you're new to fantasy shit gets real. Let's just say that. 

Representation
Cerebral Palsy (Main Character), Gay (Side Character), POC (Side Character), Physical Disability (Side Character)

Content Warning
Blood, Suicidal Thoughts, Violence, War, Decapitation, Animal Death (mention), Death of a loved one 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, and War

Minor: Animal death

readwithde's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.25

This may be my favorite Beauty and the Beast retelling. 

First, I love having any character, but especially a MC with a chronic disease or disability. It was handled so well in the narrative; it never felt like a plot point or focus, but simply part of Harper. 

Second, I really liked the way the romance between Rhen and Harper played out. The friendship and trust is built first, then the romance begins to bloom. I liked that there was initial attraction, but it was a true slow burn. Normally I'm impatient about that, but it felt so organic and well-developed. 

I'm less of a fan of the

love triangle with Grey. At first, it felt like he was a brother figure to both, especially when Harper compared him to Jake a few times. Honestly, I would ship him with Rhen over Harper.

I do like how Grey's narrative turned out, for the most part.

Being a "halfling" human and magic user, and perhaps heir to the throne, was a big revelation, and I'm glad we saw him struggling with that in the epilogue.

I was most excited about how the kingdom and the people reacted to Rhen and his decision to start doing something for them. It helped build up the story to be worth a trilogy instead of a single book.

Even though it's off-brand for me, I like the semi-vague ending

of whether or not Harper loves Rhen, whether she broke the curse or if Grey did.

While there's still a clean ending, a resolution, it gives room for more play in the series without stirring up extra (i.e. unnecessary) drama.

Overall, I really liked it, and I'm excited to read more in the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury