Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

55 reviews

katievallin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Violence, Torture, Blood, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Physical abuse, Stalking, Alcohol, Gore, War, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Gun violence, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

Minor: Child death, Vomit, Abandonment, Pedophilia, Infidelity, Rape, and Ableism

annorabrady's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Blood, Kidnapping, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Self harm, Outing, Abandonment, Child death, Death of parent, Cancer, Vomit, War, Violence, Torture, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Ableism

lilacs_book_bower's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

3.25

I unfortunately wasn't a huge fan of this.  Harper was very quick to accept her situation, and also really should have made the connection between Rhen and the monster much sooner.  I feel like we are supposed to think Rhen grew and changed, but it felt like he had already done most of that before the book even began. Other than the main three characters, I don't feel like we spent enough time with anyone else (including Harper's family) to care about them.  None of the minor characters had more than one or two traits.  The plot twist at the end, to set up the sequel, came out of nowhere. On the plus side, kind of, I appreciated that Harper has cerebral palsy, and am always glad to see representation for people, but as the author does not have CP, nor do I, I cannot speak to the accuracy of the representation (and I recognize people's lives and experiences with CP can vary widely!). I'm wondering if I should rate this lower actually, but I did like the relationship between Harper and Rhen wasn't rushed, and I liked Rhen and Grey's friendship as well.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Cancer, Gore, Suicide attempt, War, Death, Kidnapping, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

mo_books_read's review

adventurous dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

I love the fantasy element and how it's a dual pov and with the female lead you truly feel that she is a fish out of water in the fantasy world. Also she has cerebral palsy which gives her a limp but she never lets it define/ makes her whole personality but it is there and she works around it and is still a complete lovable badass.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, War, Cancer, Death, Blood, Chronic illness, Alcohol, Murder, and Torture

thatbookbitch's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Medical content, and Violence

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death of parent, Cancer, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and War

Minor: Self harm, Blood, Alcohol, and Vomit

diana_raquel's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

“The choices we face may not be the choices we want, but they are choices nonetheless.”

As I said in other reviews, Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite fairy tales. Therefore, I'm always looking for retellings of this fairy tale. But I'm always very cautious because not everything that is marketed as a retelling is really a retelling or they are but they are really bad books. And so, I was reticent in starting this trilogy, especially because is a hyped one. It seems that, in social media, everyone and their mother loves this trilogy. 

Nonetheless, I decided to read it. And I ended up loving it! The bones of the original fairy tale are there, but it also can stand up as its own story. The characters are interesting and well-written (and there is disability representation, which is a positive point). The story is well-structured and the pacing is just right. I loved it! Its probably one of my favorite books of 2023. 

Overall, it's a solid story that I recommend if you're looking for retellings that can be their own story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, War, Kidnapping, Torture, Murder, Chronic illness, Confinement, Violence, Blood, Death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Ableism, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual harassment, and Misogyny

Minor: Alcohol

a_wren_that_reads'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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Death of parent, Death, War, Blood, Violence, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Gun violence and Ableism

hiddeninfantasy's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Gore, Kidnapping, Genocide, War, Alcohol, Murder, Cancer, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Body horror, Death of parent, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Trafficking, Violence, Ableism, Blood, Gun violence, and Suicidal thoughts

imbored_soillread's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

Moderate: Death of parent, Medical content, Ableism, Alcohol, Blood, Cancer, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual harassment

jessreadreceipts's review

adventurous medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Blood, Grief, War, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence