Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

A Crown of Ivy and Glass by Claire Legrand

5 reviews

smithmd's review against another edition

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dark sad medium-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? It's complicated

3.5

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kalecake's review against another edition

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

4.25

I LOVED this book. I heard a lot of people were disappointed in this story but I loved the main character’s flaws. I didn’t know what was going to happen next. It was sexy, it was dark, it was morbid. I had such a great time!
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luckylulureads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

So this book is definitely not perfect, but I LOVED it nonetheless. I may be in the minority here, but I thought Furyborn was just okay, while this had me HOOKED. 

I’d say the romance was more Insta-lust than Insta-love, and honestly I don’t see anything wrong with that. There’s definitely still some tension or push/pull in the relationship between Gemma and Talan that it seems realistic. Sure, he can kinda lay it on thick, but with reason. ..

Gemma herself is an unlikeable character, and yet I loved her. She deals with chronic pain and crippling anxiety, and as someone who can relate, it can be difficult to find the energy for kindness or generosity when you’re running on fumes like that. She can be moody, irrational, and selfish, but she is also aware of how her actions affect others in the aftermath. She’s a traumatized person who is working on healing and coking to terms with her pain. And I think she has incredible growth over the course of the book. As the author intended, Gemma is absolutely Amy March and Emma Woodhouse coded. 

The plot of the book itself is super interesting, and I found myself unable to put the book down once the mysteries really got rolling. I had to know what all of these seemingly disparate threads meant. While the book takes a really wild turn in the second half, it quickly gets back on course, and there are some intense revelations. It puts a lot of the first half into perspective. 

I absolutely cannot WAIT for book two, which I have on good authority is definitely Farrin’s book. Which hopefully means more Ryder!
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katsmeowbrown's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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anollylollymolly's review against another edition

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

2.0

I really wanted to like this book, but there were aspects of the story that made me feel so conflicted that I just couldn’t in the end. 

I’m short, this story is about our MC Gemma- a beautiful, rich, young woman who comes from a human family that has both powerful social influence and magical abilities. Gemma, however, doesn’t have an affinity for magic and, in fact, feels great pain whenever she’s surrounded by it (which is practically always). She quickly meets our MMC, Talan, a foreigner who’s come to her family with hopes that they can help him get in the Queen’s good graces. Soon Talan and Gemma strike a deal to work together; Gemma will help Talan with his social standing and Talan will help Gemma ruin the reputation of her family’s great rivals, the Basks.

Overall, I liked the concept of the plot. It was unique and way darker than I was expecting. However, the world-building was seriously lacking and the romance felt very forced and phony. Throughout the whole book Gemma reflects upon folktales regarding Olden creatures but we never get solid anecdotes. Much of the story felt way too convenient and lacked impact.
For example, we start getting clues that Gemma has Fae blood (which explains her bizarre powers) 70% of the way through the book AND it’s the first instance that we, the readers, even see mention of Fae at all.
 

Onto my gripes with the romance: it was rushed and unbelievable. At first I thought that
Gemma and Talan
would fall for each other slowly and there would be one magical moment near the middle/end of the book where it all came together and their feelings were finally voiced. Instead, they fell into a fake dating scheme that lasted for MAYBE 65 pages. After that they too quickly gave into their physical desires and I just wasn’t invested. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I might have been able to move on from the author rushing into the romance, but I couldn’t handle the dialogue between our characters. Whenever
Talan
spoke to
Gemma
it felt forced and it seemed  far too intimate than their relationship deemed appropriate, particularly in the first half of the book. It just didn’t seem believable that two strangers would act the way they did. Wasn’t for me. 

Despite my criticisms, I thought the concept was good! I just wish it was more fleshed out. It came off as being too ambitious. 
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