Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Beyond the Ruby Veil by Mara Fitzgerald

9 reviews

ziracrow's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective fast-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

1.5

This book was disappointing to me, since the setting and premise have a lot of promise, and I genuinely enjoyed the worldbuilding. However. I have never been so annoyed with a MC. She treats her best friend terribly and constantly talks down to him, behaves in the most narcissistic way possible, and consistently abuses those around her for no reason. There's a difference between making an "unhinged chaotic evil heroine" willing to go to extremes and writing a blatantly abusive narcissist that makes terrible decisions & shows no sign of any character development. It's a miracle I didn't DNF.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

irisgoldson's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Confinement, Violence, and Vomit

Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Death of parent, and Alcohol

In the book it’s is described in depth, multiple times, what it feels like to chew and swallow another persons eyeball. It’s very disturbing, you’ve been warned.

karapillar's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Self harm, Sexism, Terminal illness, Torture, Vomit, Grief, Abandonment, and Classism

megselyane's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Torture, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

Minor: Medical content and Alcohol

vvillaneve's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

Absolutely chilling

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Murder

btorsi's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.0

dnf in 2020. finally recommitted and finished in january 2022. wow the most unlikable protagonist since holden caulfield. i know she was meant to be that way but it still made it terribly hard to root for her or want to keep reading about her. ale deserved better. but the world building and plot was actually v interesting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Emotional abuse

Minor: Bullying and Death of parent

samusc's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This fast paced debut was super unique and I loved it. It's been awhile since I've seen such an intense corruption arc. The best way I could think to summarize this experience is when you're playing DnD and a character immediately resorts to violence instead of talking things through, and things only get worse from there. Reading this made me feel sad, disgusted, and needing to know what would happen next. I loved the romance element because

it makes sense that Emanuela would fall for someone so like herself. It was previously established that one of her former rivalries involved some feelings. Verene is motivated by the same things Emanuela is, is incredibly ambitious, and has suffered trauma under similar hands

.
I'm very excited for the sequel and hope to see Ale make a name for himself. He truly deserves better.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, and Death of parent

dhwani's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Self harm, and Vomit

Minor: Confinement and Death of parent

murphyslaw's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

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

Way darker and more distressing than I expected from a YA novel. Interesting commitment to a flawed main character in a way that makes me want to read the sequel and hopefully see the MC grow—and the origin of the world be explained more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Toxic relationship, and Murder

Minor: Death of parent