Reviews with content warning for Blood - Among the Beasts & Briars

I don’t love the writing style since I feel like certain sentences just missed whole words and there’s a lot of repetitive sentences but I love a good standalone “we have to go into the wild woods” book. Most plot points are predictable but it’s a nice little book.

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tinkeringcheck's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

3.75

A fantastic concept with lovely fairy tale-esque descriptions and a very fun main character in Fox. I found his voice delightful and his perspective as - well - a fox very well thought through in how it affected his narration. I also found his internal struggles felt real and oddly relatable. It was nice to see characters in fantasy who struggle with fear and anxiety still feel scared and anxious while trying to do the right thing anyway. Overall, I really enjoyed my time with this book!

However, it was younger YA than I was expecting and mechanically there were some things that would've lowered my overall opinion if they hadn't been surrounded by such an enjoyable package. The other main character POV - Cerys - felt underdeveloped and one-note next to Fox. The plot twists are walloped over your head well in advance and, personally, I felt they were a bit of a downgrade for plotting and characterization as well. There's also a climax-to-epilogue time skip that will probably leave some feeling like too much denouement was left off the page.

I still feel that the sparkling characters, fairy tale setting, and the lovely but fast-flowing prose made this a fun and worthwhile read. But I wish I'd have known to adjust my expectations to younger YA plotting and character depth going into it.

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ash_ton's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

i loved it. super cute and fun.

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dandelionsteph's review against another edition

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I was so annoyed that Cerys and Fox got into a romantic relationship with each other when nothing about the book's blurb suggested it at all. I was annoyed that, if she was going to get in a romantic relationship with Fox, that it had to unambiguously set in so late in the book, when I had gotten invested in the plot. I don't like profanity, no matter how it's used, but I was particularly annoyed with how long it took for any profanity to show up. It didn't feel justified, given the overall tone of the book: it felt extraneous, like the book was trying to hard to market itself as a "grown-up book" rather than a middle grade book. (As if there's anything wrong with middle-grade.)

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