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refrejarator's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Moderate: Racism, War, Bullying, Torture, Confinement, Grief, Emotional abuse, Blood, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Child abuse, Death of parent, Animal death, Death, and Fire/Fire injury
amandaplease50's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Some slight twists and turns but not overwhelming and so well written. It’s in first person POV and the POV changes every chapter which can honestly be terrible in books but I never felt like I was reading in first person. And the changing of POV really added to the story!
Small romance mostly about the witch and vampire lore which I loved.
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Violence, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual harassment
micaelacccc's review
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Gaslighting, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Violence, Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Blood
Moderate: Death, Animal death, Death of parent, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Murder
vixenreader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Body horror, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Child abuse, Confinement, Violence, Grief, Abandonment, Death of parent, Death, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Animal death, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Medical content, Sexism, Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Cannibalism, Gore, and Kidnapping
Minor: Slavery, Ableism, and War
There is also destruction of nature, people being chained and imprisoned, and abusive mother-daughter dynamics.krisalexcole's review against another edition
Moderate: Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Alcohol, Blood, Confinement, Death, and Murder
anastasia_raf's review against another edition
- 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
2.75
The characters felt two- dimensional. All we ever got about Kaye's past was that her mother was dead...And in a weird sense I felt like she was grieving her in everyone else's eyes other than her own? What I mean by this Is that death seemed like an excuse to everyone's actions but without necessarily having dealt with such grief or actually stop and feel it. Was she actually grieving her mother? because that's what it kept saying and yet not showing.
The end was unsatisfactory to say the least.
Ava was a mix of Bella with some nuances of Rapunzel and some sprinkles of a cliche ya protagonist. I just wish it would've done more. Especially from a such overused "genre" like vampires and witches. It relied too much on it being an inspiration of famous tales, series and stories that it forgot to bring it's own. Everything was so underdeveloped. Predictable. And calluna did never feel like a person that really existed. I guess in that sense it succeed in her being a memory but not actually empathizing with her or caring for Kaye's loss.
The pace was satisfactory. The audiobook's narration was very pleasant.
Graphic: Grief, Murder, Emotional abuse, Violence, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping
collinsd's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Murder, and Confinement
I didn't realise until a few pages in that this book was a retelling of Rapunzel/Tangledhobbithopeful's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Ava and her Mother are both vampires, with Ava being kept locked in the attic for the past two years. Her Mother regularly drains her of her magic in order to maintain her human disguise, and often leaves her to the cruel experiments of her step-father. Ava longs to escape, and often looks out the window searching for her best friend.
Kaye is a Flame witch, and has a single minded goal, wipe out vampires. Vampires killed her Mother, and she will let nothing get in the way for her revenge. She used to be best friends with Ava, but after seeing her in an attic window with blood running down her face knows she must be put down.
When Ava finally escapes the two must work together to get through the forest alive, no matter how much Kaye seems to hate her now. But the forest seems to be dying, and Ava's Mother has plans of her own.
I'll be honest with you dear reader, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. Like I loved it! A lot! I didn't expect all the world building, the lore, the history. There was so much to this world and I was so blown away. I thought I knew what was going to happen in this story but the reveals that kept happening really swept the rug out from under me!
I really loved how the book had such themes as humans as the real monsters, fighting for freedom, and what happens if you hold your loved ones too tightly.
I will say I feel this book is 95% fantasy/angst and 5% sapphic romance but I'm not complaining. So many sapphic books are very light hearted romance, and it was nice to read a book where the focus was on more action and adventure instead.
One last thing I want to say I am so surprised and disappointed by how many reviewers are lowly rating this book because it is "not exactly like the original Rapunzel story." (People please use your critical thinking skills and look up what a retelling is. If it wasn't clear by the fact this is a book about vampires, why would you think this is going to be like the original fairy tale?) I also saw so many bad reviews complaining about the formatting for netgalley arcs, which isn't at all relevant to the actual story.
I highly recommend this book, especially for fans of world building, vampires, and of course fairy tales. I will definitely be reading more from Francesca Flores.
The Cover
Holy cow. Do y'all see this cover! I would like to give a round of applause for the cover artist, Olga Grlic! This is truly a work of art, my goodness. I love how we get so much information from them holding hands.
Ava's nails are blood red, with the ring from her Mother perched on her finger. I like how Kaye is almost seeming to be about to push it off of her. (Some symbolism of Ava breaking away from her Mother perhaps?)
Kaye's nails are gold, like the magic she wields, and her favored Flame witch bracelet is show on her wrist. (You guys do you see how detailed this is!) All around their hands are fireflies, flowers, and forestry. I believe the flowers are the ones that are heavily featured through the book. (I won't spoil for you what they do!)
I love how the title is lower on the page, it just flows so well with the composition. I really feel like the font works to convey the mood perfectly, and it goes with the cover.
Really the only microscopic complaint I would have is I feel the authors name would have been better suited to being white like the title font.
Cover design by Olga Grlic Cover illustration by Colin Verdi
Graphic: Death of parent, Blood, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Murder and Racism
taelights's review
The writing is bad and repetitive. The world building is bad and hard to understand. Plus both main characters are both so annoying to me.
Also like i don't have issues with witches and/or vampires in general becaus I think there are respectful ways to write those types of creatures. But then there are ways to write those creatures that play into antisemitism. Personally I thought this book kind of protrayed vampires, and in a way witches, with antisemitic / blood libel themes which I personally foubd uncomfortable and yucky.
Graphic: Blood, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death, Emotional abuse, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Antisemitism
jazzyjbox's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Ava is locked away in her house after becoming a vampire. Kaye is a Flame witch trained to hunt vampires. After Ava escapes and Kaye sets off on her trail, the two have to work together to navigate the forest and uncover a dastardly plot.
This was a unique take on a classic tale. I liked Ava and Kaye as characters, and the worldbuilding was cool to see develop. The pacing was a little slow, but it was overall an enjoyable read.
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Death of parent