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kalmia31's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Blood, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Grief, Hate crime, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Torture, Violence, Addiction, Drug abuse, Classism, Physical abuse, Confinement, Gaslighting, and Alcoholism
Minor: War, Sexual content, Abandonment, and Xenophobia
takarakei's review against another edition
dark
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
2.0
Who cares? like literally there is not enough world building or character development for me to give a crap about this story. All the secondary characters are barely mentioned let alone given any actual substance. The MC Wren is bi, ok, but we don't get enough detail of her prior relationship with Una (sp? idk audiobook) for it to actually mean much? I guess in the end it's more like enemies to lovers/close proximity once she arrives at the estate to take care of Hal. I wasn't even really into their romance either. The main mystery is like 'solved' almost too early, and then the end of the story drags on. It's just a lot of like gore and medical horror strung together into kind of a fantasy (really more court politics) lackluster romance.
The ending is super unbelievable, like all of a sudden at the last second Wren is able to convince the Queen to just stop siding with Lowry?? just like that? even though she tried before...
2.5/5 🌶️
2.5/5 🌶️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Animal cruelty
sexual content very mild, pretty much closed door. animal testing mentioned briefly.aivilo611's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Medical content
Minor: Sexual content
lizwhitehead3's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and War
girlonbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
🌨️🌨️🌨️🌨️ Four Stars (as rated in the snow clouds in this splendidly wintery read)
Niece to the queen herself, Wren Southerland might as well be a nobody. Sequestered in the Abbey from a very young age, Wren fought to establish her worth with her exceptional (and magical) healing abilities. Having worked her way up to Lieutenant in the Queen’s army, all Wren wants in the whole world is to be recognized for her value; to be told she matters. But when one moment of misplaced compassion leaves her at the mercy of an enemy spy – compromising her entire mission – Wren risks losing everything she’s spent years worked for. Getting back in the Queen’s good graces will require a bigger gamble than she’s ever taken before, and necessitate allying herself with the very enemy she’s sworn to defeat.
Niece to the queen herself, Wren Southerland might as well be a nobody. Sequestered in the Abbey from a very young age, Wren fought to establish her worth with her exceptional (and magical) healing abilities. Having worked her way up to Lieutenant in the Queen’s army, all Wren wants in the whole world is to be recognized for her value; to be told she matters. But when one moment of misplaced compassion leaves her at the mercy of an enemy spy – compromising her entire mission – Wren risks losing everything she’s spent years worked for. Getting back in the Queen’s good graces will require a bigger gamble than she’s ever taken before, and necessitate allying herself with the very enemy she’s sworn to defeat.
“Maybe the only difference between a monster and a hero was the colour of a soldier’s uniform”
This book really grew on me. I loved the narration from the start (Kathleen McInerney deserves her own genre of the word talented) but I took a minute to connect with the story. Once things get going, though, and the mystery “intensifies,” so to speak, I was officially in it for the long haul. Just something to keep in mind if you’re on the fence about DNFing within the first 50 pages.
✨ Read this book because: you want a cozy winter read with some mystery, the tiniest bit of sexual tension and a lot of politically motivated backstabbing.
✨ Content warnings for this book: descriptive medical stuff, graphic medical trauma, gore, blood, death, death of a parent, murder, poisoning, body horror, war, violence
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Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and War
forthesanityof1's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-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
4.25
I was lured once again by the pretty cover and picked this up on a whim. I'm very happy I did though, as I enjoyed it a lot! I loved the MC Wren, I thought her whole character being centralized around this idea of empathy and compassion and seeing her struggle with it but ultimately remain empathetic, even when it doesn't benefit her and would be much easier to slip into apathy/hatred, was refreshing. I absolutely adored the love interest and his little moments that really drove home how human he is. The plot was interesting if a bit fuzzy at times but nothing crazy. Definitely surprised me with the murder mystery aspect that featured heavily in it. A couple plot points themselves were dropped or resolved a touch too fast/easily, but that's pretty minor for me. The supporting characters were great, the antagonist was interesting but could have used a bit more fleshing out to really drive home his horror and chillingness as the villain. Some of the emotional scenes in general could have used some fleshing out, especially with the love interest. Props to the author for starting the romance with him after he went through his self-hatred/loathing phase prior to the events in the book. I thought that was nice and different than what I usually see. I wish the horror and/or gothic elements were a little more developed to really help set the scene. I also don't see this as enemies-to-lovers like it has been pitched. It's more forbidden romance with them on opposite sides of a war. Good 18+ scene that wasn't over the top, loved the casual queer representation as well. Definitely going to be keeping an eye out for this author!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Medical content, Murder, Violence, and War
Moderate: Sexual content and Torture
jessie_lilienthal's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Death, Medical content, Terminal illness, and Violence
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
bi_n_large's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Violence
Moderate: Murder
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