Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Among the Beasts & Briars by Ashley Poston

21 reviews

miblette's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

I really loved parts of this book... The fox, bear, and whatever crumbs of lore we were given. But that's the issue. It was just crumbs, and the conflict resolved so simply and quickly. There were also parts that were so predictable, but then other parts seemed to come out of left field? Not everything was fully fleshed out, and I feel like I'm missing something.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent

quiet_reader's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Classism

Minor: Confinement and Death of parent

maregred's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

tinkeringcheck's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Blood, and Death of parent

ash_ton's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Genocide and Medical content

tania_mybookishsecret's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Grief

geilie's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, and Blood

Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

book_siren's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Violence, Dementia, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

thoughtsontomes's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

I ended up really enjoying this since it had so many things that I love in books. This is a creepy sentient forest with body horror elements and a main character that has nature magic, so that's always going to be a hit for me. Her best friend is a fox, and I love foxes. There are elements that I kind of predicted but then the author went about them in a way that was really cool. I also appreciate how she makes the world inclusive and not homophobic. Although the main couple is straight, there are lots of casual mentions of gay side characters and there is not opposition in world to that. I enjoyed both POVs in this story, and my only complaint is that it wrapped up a bit quickly and easily when there should have been more consequences for some of the things that happened. There are also some scenes that happen after the end of the book as extras that imply more stories could happen in this world following different characters, and I'd love to see those!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Child death and Death of parent

studiomikarts's review against another edition

I just can't continue reading. The book is in desperate need of a good copy editor and a decent developmental editor. The silly typos and repetitive wording are amateurish (most recent example, on page 78, a knot forms in the protagonist's throat and a couple lines later, she feels anxiety "like a knot in my throat" as if the first knot didn't exist? or it disappeared immediately? or there's a double knot?) and the protagonist's unbelievable obliviousness is unendearing (

in a world where magic is the norm, and in a forest where supposedly no human lives, she doesn't put two and two together when her fox suddenly disappears and a naked man stands before her with the same colored eyes and hair as that fox?

). I'm going to move on; life is too short to read bad books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Blood

Moderate: Death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death and Death of parent