Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent

177 reviews

hilaryisreading's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense 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? Yes

4.5

This was a fantastic book. It actually lived up to the hype, which amazed me. I'm not usually into vampire stories, but I really enjoyed this read. I can't get over the plot twists and turns. Every trial is another mystery, and described with amazing detail. I liked that the FMC struggled both in the trials and had a profound internal struggle, through which she tried so hard to cling to logic and her teachings. Also, I've been finding so many books recently focus too much on how the protagonsits are sex-on-a-stick, and the author didn't go too far down that road. It's actually refreshing to find a story that contains romance without hyper-sexualising the characters. This book was about the story, not about rippling arms and dimples. And the ending! I won't ruin it for you, but I did not see that coming. It was so tense ... I was totally locked in. Can't wait to read the next in the Nightborn duet.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Slavery

THE BETRAYAL!!!

readwithsophsx's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

beehanc1929's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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? N/A

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Self harm

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, and Suicide attempt

tiiiger35's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

It took me a few chapters to become fully immersed in this novel. Once I connected with Oraya & Raihn, I was fully invested in following their ‘Kejari’ adventures & battles. Oraya is a bad ass! Born human, but raised by the ‘night born vampire king’ who loved her as a daughter but, trained her like a warrior, to survive in a world where she was constant prey. 
Raihn, although a Pandora’s box, appears to be a tortured soul who longs for his humanity back and to make a change in the world he rightfully so despises.

The slow burn relationship between Oraya & Raihn is complex, challenging, chaotic and unpredictable. Enemies, to friends, to lovers, to enemies..? It has all the makings of an epic journey. 
I’m excited to read the next instalment, the ending of this had me completely confused whether I was still rooting for them to be together or not. I’m an eternal romantic though & id like to believe the good guy really can be a hero….perhaps though, the girl will have to be her own saviour, just like the real world. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, War, and Injury/Injury detail

johanna02's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Rape and Sexual content

Minor: Self harm and Sexual violence

At the beginning of the book you find a content warning from the author that I found very accurate.

madalynjoanne's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, and War

Minor: Animal death, Self harm, and Slavery

scarlett_f's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcohol

emma_rose_skapetis's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

becxaa's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Murder

Moderate: Death and Grief

claragweny's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

2.75

Badass, violent chosen one FMC who has unknown powers. Secretive, powerful, and ~handsome~ MMC who’s ALSO a chosen one - oh and he has wings. 😐 

Pretty much as formulaic as you can get with fantasy but not written well enough to be compelling. You could splice this story together with bits and pieces from the Sarah J Mass universe, From Blood and Ash, Twlight, and basically any other fae or vampire romantasy.

Everything I predicted about this book came true which isn’t something I want out of fantasy stories. I want to be surprised, challenged, or proven wrong. Obviously, that is not true for everyone given how much this book is raved about online. To each their own. When I want my trope-y, predictable, easygoing stories I will read a romance or contemporary fic novel instead. 

That being said, it’s not bad enough that I didn’t enjoy reading it. It’s not guilty pleasure level enjoyment, not good enough that I’d genuinely recommend it. If someone asked me “hey should I read this?” I’d shrug and respond “eh, if you’ve got nothing else on your TBR right now.” 🤷‍♀️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Sexual content, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Grief and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Rape, Self harm, and Torture