Scan barcode
grace_b_3's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Graphic: Confinement, Blood, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Sexual content
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
jailene's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Death and Blood
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Animal death
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.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/Tangledtaelights'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
chymerra'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Murder, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Animal death, Torture, and Child death
Minor: Death of parent and Vomit
lydiareads247's review against another edition
- 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
Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for granting me an arc in exchange for an honest review.
This book had a lot of potential. Pitched as a rapunzel retelling with witches and vampires as enemies, the plot itself is captivating and interesting but the execution isn't the best. Some moments towards the end of the book are more enjoyable and better executed, but most of it could use a little more reviewing before it had been published. Some stories about their world could have been better told (or shown) - I felt like it was missing something.
Overall, though, the book was enjoyable. It had adventure, some good fighting moments, found family and the friends to enemies to lovers. I appreacited the little excerpts at the beginning of the chapters, they were a bit of an extra glimpse into that world and brought a bit more understanding to the reader (especially about Kaye's mom).
The characters were also pretty loveable and I was really rooting not only for the leads, but also for the trio to rekindle their friendship. Each character had their moment to shine and reveal a different side to themselves and I believe that was well done and made the reader appreacite the character's journey more.
In conclusion, some parts could be better but the book in itself is a fun read. I'll keep an eye out for anything else Francesca Flores publishes!
Graphic: Animal death and Violence