Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee

36 reviews

katsbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

“Ex Scientia Ultio. From knowledge comes vengeance.” 

“The question isn't whether magic is real. It's whether I can touch it without being consumed by it.”

This book was alright. The dark academia vibes were spooky and fun. The fact that there was absolutely zero characters that were men was delightful. I didn't fully realize until the very end but every character either identifies as a woman or nonbinary. Loved that representation! I also really liked when the writing got a little meta. However, I found it slightly annoying when the author said something to the extent of "she touched me and I felt a tingle go down my spine" for the 50th time. Like find a new description, please. But ultimately, the atmosphere was this book's saving grace, for sure. The writing and plot weren't terrible. I found different parts intriguing but the first two-thirds or so were kind of slow. It really picked up in the last third but by then I had predicted a major plot twist so when it happened, it didn't impact me the way I expect it was meant to. If  YA thrillers and dark academia are your jam, you'd probably enjoy this more than I did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Sexual content, Abandonment, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug use, Gun violence, and Alcohol

bookishgoob's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I was really excited for this book, and it felt disappointing. i went into it with an idea of dark academia and left with gothic horror, which i guess you could say are similar. I wasn’t expecting a gothic horror, i was expecting a dark academia mystery. this book was slightly confusing at times, with an unreliable narrator. that can be great, because you never know what’s true but if done poorly, it can be confusing, hard to read, and not enjoyable. this teetered the line of poorly written and well written. having lgbt characters at the forefront was nice and the atmosphere was awesome. i was not expecting the animal death scene and that was kind of triggering for me. all around it felt like it lacked something. i’m glad i read it and it feels like a nice introduction to gothic horror but it also feels like you’re not missing much if you skip it. i gave it a 3.5 because the atmosphere was just really great and i did enjoy it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Grief, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Outing, and Abandonment

alouette's review against another edition

dark mysterious relaxing fast-paced

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

3.0

in the end, i don't think this book was my cup of tea, even though i love some of the author's other works. the purple prose was a slog a lot of the time, the twist was obvious, and the entire setup just felt sad. basically, a girl with many mental health issues gets manipulated by another girl with mental health issues, they treat each other poorly, things spiral into darkness, and in the end it doesn't seem like either of them got the help they needed.

Felicity's highly paid therapist doesn't even call her once!

it's layered with stories of witches/ghosts/the occult that don't serve any purpose except to make things fit a certain aesthetic, which feels very contrived. a lot of plot points, like the "cult" happenings, had no payoff, especially not for the side characters, who were very flat. i did appreciate the bits that dealt with Felicity's past and her previous girlfriend, though, and i enjoyed the ending!

gotta appreciate a girl who just kills off the person who's manipulated her and is blackmailing her instead of beating around the bush!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal death and Murder

Minor: Abandonment

tall_glass_of_hotness2021's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, and Abandonment

nyxiee's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

honestly,, i just gave it a 5 stars solely for the lesbianism

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, and Abandonment

starccato's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Drug use, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Vomit, and Abandonment

apersonfromflorida's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Alcoholism, Lesbophobia, and Abandonment

abutler's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

bookishfaye's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

🍃 positives:
- I adored the sapphic yearning dear God
- The actual academia portion of the dark academia vibes I adored as an English major myself! all the thesis statements I found so fun!! Also the literary references were 10/10, & the method book writing was awesome
- also the dark academia vibes in general lol 
- the focuses on sexism, gender, white privilege, & sexuality I loved
- I loved the “unreliable narrator” vibes throughout the story & was constantly unsure of who the “bad guy” was.
- I am so obsessed with Ellis’s character and how interesting she is  
- the psyche of both Felicity and Ellis were just so interesting to dive into on top of the connection they had & their own personal ✨issues✨ 
- the Lesbian MC & love interest rep, & non binary side character rep :)) <3
-the witchy vibes were so fricken good

🍃negatives:
- there were definitely some aspects of the plot/character that were predictable/cheesy and it wasn’t a perfect book; however, I adored it so much that any “issue” was so minor to me that it didn’t make a difference to how I felt overall

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Racism, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

gondorgirl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Gaslighting

Moderate: Animal death and Alcohol

Minor: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment