Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross

89 reviews

abicaro17's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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

5.0

REBECCA ROSS STRIKES AGAIN!! I am sobbing as I write this review. Iris and Roman, married but separated by Darce have to once again find each other through their words. Roman has his memories removed and Iris is back in Oath searching for a way to fix what's been broken. This book is sooo much better than Divine Rivals. I'm not sure if its the pre established relationships, the more evolved climax, or the constant stream of activity but Ruthless Vows took my breath away. Between the gut wrenching end, the beautiful relationship between Iris and Roman, and the satisfying conclusion of the duology this is everything I wanted it to be and more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Gore, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Genocide, Grief, Blood, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Violence, Cursing, Physical abuse, Stalking, Kidnapping, War, Confinement, Death, Medical content, Toxic friendship, and Murder

chelly_reads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical trauma, War, Grief, Blood, Gore, Murder, Medical content, and Violence

lisavandonselaar's review against another edition

emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Death

Moderate: Grief, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail

theinkedpath's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful sad

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

ES:

Ya se ha acabado mi nueva obsesión...y no sé qué va a pasar después de leer este libro.
Necesitaba transportarme lejos de mi vida y este libro me ha dejado viajar hasta Oath con una maleta para máquina de escribir, enamorarme de nuevo del periodismo y vivir otra vida. Ojalá esa vida durara más.
Sé que este libro no es perfecto, pero ha sido mi oportunidad para dejar de ser yo por las noches y pensar que había cartas llenas de amor que viajaban entre armarios también para mi.

Pienso leer más cosas de Rebecca, por supuesto.

EN:

I did not want this to end. I needed more Iris and Roman. I needed more love letters full of longing and sweet words.
It is not a secret among those who love me that these past months have been a nightmare...and this book was my safe space during that time. The best moment of the day. 
Probably it is not the perfect book, but it was the book I needed. I needed to scape to Oath, find myself in Iris and feel in love with journalism again (a career I studied but I could not find opportunities in the way I wanted). Old-fashion typewriters in hand, gathering stories, all mixed with magic. 
Through Iris and Roman love story I had my heart pounding, wishing magic ley lines were real, waiting for the next letter. 
I am a romantic, I am not going to lie. I wished for love letters of my own. But their love story serve me as a shelter for when stress and sadness was too much in my reality. 
I also found that this story allowed me to find joy while also mirroring the desperation I was feeling in my real life. All mixed, all at the same time.
I wish I could explore Iris and Roman story further, as they have accompanied me in such hard times. It is hard to say goodbye.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, War, Blood, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief

As a form of trigger warnings there is

death of a sibling

As a form of trigger warnings there is

an execution scene, although the character is not killed in the end

amy_q13's review against another edition

dark emotional tense 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and War

Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Confinement, and Mass/school shootings

Minor: Sexual content, Medical content, Death of parent, and Child death

tabea1409's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Chronic illness, Gore, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Genocide, Mass/school shootings, Gaslighting, Violence, Murder, Medical content, Gun violence, and Grief

tiana_king's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.25

My only beef with this book is the magic, gods, and goddesses were not explained in much detail. Otherwise a nice wrap up to a good story. No there is no spice in this one either for those wondering

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

Moderate: Chronic illness, Medical trauma, and Medical content

Minor: Sexual content and Torture

lawbooks600's review against another edition

adventurous slow-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

4.0

Representation: N/A
Score: Seven out of ten.

Surprisingly, Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross was better than Divine Rivals. It was more difficult to get a hold of this one since no library or bookstore had it. I had to request it from a library, and I got it a few months later. I glanced at the blurb and headed in with low expectations, but when I closed the final page, I found it more enjoyable.

It starts (more like continues) with the characters that need no introduction, Roman and Iris, living their separate lives with Iris fighting for one all powerful being, Enva, while Roman is stuck in enemy territory with another equally potent being, Dacre. Ross solved almost every issue I had in Divine Rivals with this instalment, and those changes made such an improvement. The characters, hard to connect or relate with initially, eventually grew on me as I read more about them, particularly Roman and Iris, but other characters are still in the background. 

At this point, the two protagonists weren't rivals or enemies anymore, since they already started their relationship and now I see them deepen it. Ross brought more of the worldbuilding and fantasy aspects into the spotlight when I saw more of the ongoing war, specifically Dacre's side, and Enva got more page time, but there was no backstory, but it's fine. Divine Rivals said the two deities have always been rivals. There's no explanation on where they came from, though. The slow pacing works now because of the characters, when previously it was tedious to read, but the writing style tells more than shows, and the setting is one I don't see every day (a historical urban fantasy.) Perhaps adding more detail could further improve the reading experience. At least the climax is a high note when Enva and her side win the conflict.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, War, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Blood

Full trigger warnings: Military violence and war themes, death of a mother from a train accident and a sister in a body of water in the past and murder, beheading, physical assault and injury, blood, grief and loss depiction, explosions, fire

melissaslibraryy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Blood, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, War, Classism, and Vomit

crunchycrystals's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Medical content, Vomit, and Blood