Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent

73 reviews

skyfluff's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Murder, Rape, Blood, Body horror, Sexual violence, War, Torture, Death of parent, Death, and Violence

spatterson7's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Grief, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Gore

Moderate: Death of parent, Genocide, Cursing, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, War, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Alcohol, Child death, Torture, Slavery, and Self harm

girlreading's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

I didn’t expect to enjoy this as much as I did but I really enjoyed it. I think I maybe even kinda loved it? 

The characters and world were well developed, the romance was the perfect amount of slow burn and it delivered on the promise of the hunger games vibes with vampires. I finished somewhat devastated I didn’t have book two on hand. So yeah. I’d say it was a pretty great time. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Self harm and Sexual assault

boba_n_books's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

4.5

Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️ / 5

The Serpent and the Wings of Night is my first Carissa Broadbent book, and suffice it to say I am HOOKED.

Oraya is the adopted human daughter of the Nightborn vampire king, Vincent, and throughout her 23 years, her father has taught her to do away with her humanity and embrace the vampiric way of life. She is taught time and time again that she can trust no one and that she is prey in a world full of predators. Vincent has always wanted Oraya to be more than just a human, and her chance to do that comes in the form of the Kejari: a legendary tournament hosted by Nyaxia, the goddess of death and mother of all vampires. Oraya is the only human in the tournament and underestimated by most of the other competitors, except for one. She is forced to create an alliance with Raihn, who is a ruthless vampire and an enemy to her father's crown. Despite all of her instincts and training telling her to stay away, Oraya finds herself innately drawn to Raihn for reasons she can't quite explain, and that terrifies her. Especially because, though they may be allies for now, there can only be one victor at the end. 

The author does an excellent job building this world slowly and through anecdotes instead of just telling readers everything about it. I enjoyed the entirety of this book, but once I hit the last 100 pages, just like in a Sarah J. Maas book, sh!t started to go down. And I was here for it. When my husband tried to talk to me, I wouldn't listen because I was that engrossed in the story. 

Broadbent has a way of drawing you in, and the first-person POV helps you truly understand Oraya and come to love her despite her standoffish demeanor and ruthlessness. Though I read a lot of fantasy romance novels, I can assure you this one will stick with me for a long time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Cursing, Violence, Sexual content, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Rape, Genocide, Sexual assault, and Torture

Minor: Self harm, Death of parent, and Slavery

literarymary95's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I don't know why but I was not a fan of this book. I'm still planning to read the sequel but hopefully that one's better.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Cursing, and Death

Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, and Torture

Minor: Self harm, Slavery, and Death of parent

nikitagupta98's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Gore

Minor: Self harm and Rape

heyz0mbiez's review against another edition

3.5

Spoilers:

This was going to be a 5/5 read until the very end. No issue with the plot twists though I kindve expected them, but Oraya was set up to have so much rage and anger and at the end she just--- gives up? She just goes along with this forced marriage without even fighting back? "But she was in love with him!" Who gives a fuck? He literally killed her father right in front of her, betrayed her, and made a complete fool out of her after she gave up everything to save his life. Why is she not as enraged as i am? Overall, a pretty large let down to a story I otherwise enjoyed up until that point. Might increase my rating to 4 after I stop being so angry about it

Outside of then plot, I really loved the writing style of the book. The prose hooked me with the first two paragraphs. It wasn't so purple that it was excessive, but definitely more elaborate and descriptive than I've come to expect from modern fantasy.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Self harm

natashaleighton_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense 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

5.0

Vampires are back with a bang in this breathtakingly pacy and deliciously addictive fantasy from Carissa Broadbent. Blending heart-stopping action and slow burn romance with a plot twisty, Hunger Games style premise that had me utterly HOOKED! 

The world-building was (to paraphrase Mary Poppins) practically perfect: vividly descriptive without slowing down the plot with unnecessary exposition, but also not too fast that the story (or our characters’ progression) feels rushed either— an impressive feat that even the most well established authors often struggle with. 

But not Broadbent, who navigates her way through intricately woven character arcs and shocking plot twists like a literary Machiavelli; pulling strings and stealing hearts with her evocative prose. 

I’m also happen to be a sucker for well written characters so loved the attention to detail (and three dimensionality) we see in protagonists Oraya and Raihn as they navigate the complex and brutal vampire hierarchy, it’s never ending power struggles and life-threatening court intrigues. 

As a human raised by a Vampire King (after the death and destruction of her entire village), Oraya has learned to survive in a world that only sees her as prey. So exploring her compelling & resilient journey, alongside the scorchingly intense attraction building between her and rival contestant Raihn was marvellous! 

The enemies turned reluctant allies were both in depth and engaging characters who, surprisingly, have waay more in common than I first thought. But I also loved some of the supporting cast too, particularly Mische, whose perky, sunshine-y demeanour had me rooting for them every step of the way too! 

I don’t want to spoil anything (particularly Raihn’s heartfelt disclosure of his past) so all I will say is that I enjoyed getting to explore both of their poignant backstories, flaws and conflicted inner feelings - as they attempt to fight their way to victory.

Overall, an enthrallingly intense, vampire centric Romantasy that fans of Hunger Games, True Blood or Buffy The Vampire Slayer should definitely consider checking out. 

And also, a huge thank you to Pan MacMillan and Bookbreak for the stunning PB copy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, and Torture

Minor: Slavery, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Self harm

shannnne_reads_words's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual content, Gore, Body horror, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Torture, Ableism, Slavery, War, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Confinement, Grief, Self harm, and Child death

tabea1409's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Death, Animal death, Classism, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Rape, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Slavery, Violence, War, and Death of parent