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izzyreads13's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
I did not personally enjoy this book. I was drawn to it due to the dedication and because I knew the main character had a flaw that I could personally relate too however I found myself having a hard time empathizing with her and finding her character enjoyable.
Wren, our female main character is the typical heart driven protagonist and for a good chunk of the book, that’s all it is. We read about her impulsive choices and how they affect her and eventually when she meets the male love interest, who is supposed to be her enemy she talks down on him all the time. Which of course, would be understandable given the circumstances but the way it plays out is icky to me. There’s multiply points where the mmc, Hal, tries to prove himself or get her to understand that he’s not this big machine gun she believes him to be but she throws careless insults at him all the time to the point where I don’t even know how he ends up falling for her. Their love story was meh at best and even though they did share a bit of cute scenes within the last maybe 50 pages of the book I still didn’t find myself in love with their love story. I also had a hard time warming up to wren despite her “character development” mostly because it feels as though every other character in the book makes it a point to give her some heartfelt apology but she never apologizes as sincerely as they did to her and it just threw me off as she definitely had some “sorrys” to give out.
Overall if anything, I would much prefer a book about Una who is Wrens first love and friend in the book as I found her character more intriguing and complex in comparison.
Additionally the book was very predictable, I was never shocked or taken aback by anything that happened, I could’ve literally guessed how this book was gonna end but finished it to know if I was gonna be right and I don’t like the idea of DNFing books but I very well could’ve gone without reading it and wouldn’t have felt like I missed out on something. It took me over a month to finish reading this book when it takes me about 3-4 days to read other books of similar lengths and it just wasn’t intriguing at all. I had to push myself to finish it on multiple occasions and ended up skimming majority of the book at the last 100 pages.
This book also read like a teens book instead of the YA book it was marketed as to me, i feel like this would’ve been more enjoyable for a 13-14 year old who’s maybe trying to get into reading if we avoid the 2 instances where the book has those in intimate “fade to black” moments. Overall, it wasn’t my kind of book. The romance was hard to fall in love with, the main character didn’t connect with me at all and the answer to the mystery was clear from the very beginning.
Overall if you do decide to read this book I wish you the best and hope you have a great time doing so, it just wasn’t for me, however to some extent the side characters were worth the read as I previously mentioned I did fall for Una and Hal, just not wren. Happy reading!
Wren, our female main character is the typical heart driven protagonist and for a good chunk of the book, that’s all it is. We read about her impulsive choices and how they affect her and eventually when she meets the male love interest, who is supposed to be her enemy she talks down on him all the time. Which of course, would be understandable given the circumstances but the way it plays out is icky to me. There’s multiply points where the mmc, Hal, tries to prove himself or get her to understand that he’s not this big machine gun she believes him to be but she throws careless insults at him all the time to the point where I don’t even know how he ends up falling for her. Their love story was meh at best and even though they did share a bit of cute scenes within the last maybe 50 pages of the book I still didn’t find myself in love with their love story. I also had a hard time warming up to wren despite her “character development” mostly because it feels as though every other character in the book makes it a point to give her some heartfelt apology but she never apologizes as sincerely as they did to her and it just threw me off as she definitely had some “sorrys” to give out.
Overall if anything, I would much prefer a book about Una who is Wrens first love and friend in the book as I found her character more intriguing and complex in comparison.
Additionally the book was very predictable, I was never shocked or taken aback by anything that happened, I could’ve literally guessed how this book was gonna end but finished it to know if I was gonna be right and I don’t like the idea of DNFing books but I very well could’ve gone without reading it and wouldn’t have felt like I missed out on something. It took me over a month to finish reading this book when it takes me about 3-4 days to read other books of similar lengths and it just wasn’t intriguing at all. I had to push myself to finish it on multiple occasions and ended up skimming majority of the book at the last 100 pages.
This book also read like a teens book instead of the YA book it was marketed as to me, i feel like this would’ve been more enjoyable for a 13-14 year old who’s maybe trying to get into reading if we avoid the 2 instances where the book has those in intimate “fade to black” moments. Overall, it wasn’t my kind of book. The romance was hard to fall in love with, the main character didn’t connect with me at all and the answer to the mystery was clear from the very beginning.
Overall if you do decide to read this book I wish you the best and hope you have a great time doing so, it just wasn’t for me, however to some extent the side characters were worth the read as I previously mentioned I did fall for Una and Hal, just not wren. Happy reading!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Alcohol, and Death of parent
naomi_k's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Medical trauma, Gore, Toxic friendship, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
Moderate: Gaslighting, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, War, and Body horror
Minor: Kidnapping and Sexual content
mimmixoxo's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Body horror, War, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Death, Violence, Murder, Blood, and Medical content
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Drug use
Minor: Kidnapping, Mental illness, Stalking, Torture, Toxic friendship, Cursing, Deportation, Gore, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, and Gun violence
sarahamuller1's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Gore, Body horror, and Death
Minor: Gun violence and Death of parent
erinsbookshelves's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Blood, Gore, Violence, Death, Murder, and Body horror
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Gun violence and Sexual content
annettewolf's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
The dedication page on this book reads "For all the girls who feel too much." So I already knew this book was written for me. Then it turns out the protagonist is bi, same as me. And oh look, all the imagery and country names and religions are references to elements of Paganism. It feels like this book was written exactly, solely, for me. Like Saft knows my heart, intimately, and wrote the book that my heart wanted.
Is this a gothic mystery full of adventure and romance? Yeah. Do the settings breathe and come to life so much that I swear you can smell them off the page? Yep. Does the plot start a little slow, then build up with careful intimacy, so that one look lasts years but three days pass by in a blink? Absolutely. Everything about this writing is just so damn good. We linger in all the right moments. We speed up for all the action, so that my eyes wanted to be even faster to find out what happens next. The descriptions of the smells are unparalleled. The character interactions are vibrant, heart-wrenchingly real, in all their tenderness and cruelty.
By the time I got to the haunted mansion setting, I didn't want to put the book down. And I honestly could have read 300 more pages of just the yearning. It was so good. And the realistic way relationships evolve and change over time and distance. And the way the climax was built on empathy as the ultimate strength. I loved so, so much about this book.
Is this a gothic mystery full of adventure and romance? Yeah. Do the settings breathe and come to life so much that I swear you can smell them off the page? Yep. Does the plot start a little slow, then build up with careful intimacy, so that one look lasts years but three days pass by in a blink? Absolutely. Everything about this writing is just so damn good. We linger in all the right moments. We speed up for all the action, so that my eyes wanted to be even faster to find out what happens next. The descriptions of the smells are unparalleled. The character interactions are vibrant, heart-wrenchingly real, in all their tenderness and cruelty.
By the time I got to the haunted mansion setting, I didn't want to put the book down. And I honestly could have read 300 more pages of just the yearning. It was so good. And the realistic way relationships evolve and change over time and distance. And the way the climax was built on empathy as the ultimate strength. I loved so, so much about this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Medical content
Moderate: Body horror, Death, and Murder
Minor: Violence, Sexual content, and Gun violence
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