Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Bitterthorn by Kat Dunn

11 reviews

salted07's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

THIS BOOK DESTROYED ME BUT IN A GOOD WAY YOU SHOULD ALL READ IT

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Self harm, Blood, Abandonment, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Death

Minor: Gaslighting, Gore, Blood, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Child abuse, and Death

vaguelyredhead's review against another edition

dark 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Vomit, and Grief

Moderate: Death, Self harm, and Abandonment

Minor: Kidnapping and Blood

naddles's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

A love letter to loneliness. I think I'd read it again and again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Self harm

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Body shaming, Blood, and Abandonment

hobbit_at_heart's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Abandonment, and Death of parent

Moderate: Blood, Self harm, Death, Classism, Confinement, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

natashaleighton_'s review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

Lush and hauntingly atmospheric, Kat Dunn’s breathtakingly vivid portrayal of love, loneliness and loss was an absolute pleasure to read! I absolutely adore gothic, dark fairytale style fantasy so knew I was gonna love this as soon as I read the premise. 

But, I have to say I was completely taken by surprise by how emotionally invested I became in our protagonist’s life. Mina (who reads like Cinderella, Belle and Aurora rolled into a single person), is such a kindhearted character whose eagerness to feel a little less of an outsider in her own home made me love her immediately.

Her longing for companionship (and a family that could actually love and care about her) had me absolutely livid on her behalf (especially when it came to her father) but her emotional journey was definitely worthwhile one and I’ll not be forgetting it anytime soon. 

I loved how vividly descriptive and rich in fairytale lore this was and with such a tender, sapphic romance at its heart, it wasn’t difficult for me to get completely lost within its pages. This is the first book by Dunn I’ve ever picked up, but given how thoroughly I devoured this, it’s certainly not going to be the last!  

I should also probably note that this is more of a character driven story, so the pacing might not be for everyone. Though, if (like me) you enjoy emotionally intense, slow burn narratives then you should definitely consider adding this to your TBRs— I promise you won’t be disappointed! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Death

Moderate: Death of parent and Vomit

Minor: Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder

lisavandonselaar's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Self harm, and Grief

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Blood, Death of parent, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Kidnapping

kaetheluise_nckl's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Abandonment, Self harm, Emotional abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Murder, Body horror, and Violence

Minor: Vomit, Sexual content, Blood, Confinement, Death of parent, and Kidnapping

- suicidal ideation - emotional abuse - neglect - self-harm - depression/anxiety

spooderalec's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Blood, Death of parent, Self harm, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, and Pregnancy

Queer (lesbian) darkish fairytale with strong similarities to Sleeping Beauty but without the sleeping and a lot more weaving/textile arts specifically

spinning time

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laffi's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Kidnapping, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Abandonment

Minor: Blood, Slavery, and Murder

mrs_gale's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

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

2.0

So slow and it dragged on sadly.

I think there is a decent story in this book, an interesting idea but it just dragged on and on. It had repeating thoughts, descriptions and phrases and the story didn't progress. 

I didn't care for either main character, the supporting characters felt weak too. 

Ending was odd, I'd probably have more to say if I cared about the characters or the story. 

Lacked any real fantasy, the witch wasn't really a witch and I didn't understand how or why the romance happened. 

Overall, I wouldn't recommend as I found it boring. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Violence, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Mental illness

Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Blood