Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

9 reviews

cdoubet's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, War, Genocide, Death, Physical abuse, Confinement, Grief, Medical content, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Torture, Murder, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, and Kidnapping

Minor: Vomit, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexism, Panic attacks/disorders, Gun violence, Infidelity, and Suicidal thoughts

luna_lovelace's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

Let me just start off with the appreciation when representing people with cerebral palsy. FMC never once used it as an excuse but something that she works around because it's a part of her. 

I love Harper, she is such a courageous character that truly cares about people and goes through great lengths to help others. I also love Grey, he's loyal and

was the first to gain Harper's trust, which says a lot because he did technically kidnap her.

The book did end with a pretty heavy cliffhanger,

is Lilith still alive? What actually broke the spell? What are Grey's true feelings for the FMC?

I can't wait to read the next book in the series, very lovable characters that makes me root for them!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Blood, Chronic illness, Confinement, and Death of parent

Minor: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and War

qrschulte's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

Enjoyable book, but I didn’t love it as a whole. And I CALLED IT!

Things I loved: 
- a protagonist with a disability who is affected by their disability but not defined by it. So refreshing that she was a fully realized person
- the Rhen narrator. Honestly, the book might have been better with just him narrating the whole thing. 
- believable reasoning for why someone from our world could ride a fucking horse

Things I did not love: 
- How whiny the Harper narrator made her sound sometimes. It made it a lot less believable it was the same character between the narrators. 
- The monster narration (so fucking creepy/scary). Could have done without that. 
- The parts where it was said Harper was “not like other girls” *cue vomiting*

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Medical content, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, War, Ableism, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Cancer, Suicide, Torture, Emotional abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Abandonment, Body horror, Self harm, Classism, Death of parent, Gore, Murder, and Stalking

Minor: Gun violence, Child death, and Infidelity

taryn_g's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Death, Murder, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Confinement, Kidnapping, Child death, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Grief, and Cancer

Minor: Ableism, Gun violence, Vomit, and Infidelity

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

amykwrites's review

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Ableism, Blood, Cancer, Gore, Kidnapping, Violence, Body shaming, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, and War

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Infidelity, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Alcohol, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Murder, and Torture

sirkeili's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

This book is a good retelling of Beauty and the Beast, especially with the monster being something brief and yet uncontrollable for the male lead. I have not seen the retellings depicted this way, and it was heartbreaking to watch him slowly lose hope after knowing what comes next.

I found Harper to be both intriguing, but also sometimes frustrating when she takes things too literally.  She grows a lot during book, but I still found most of her troubles could be solved by trusting Rhen and Grey a lot more than she initially did (even when they proved they meant no ill will).

I think Grey was my favourite, as he seemed the most well rounded and intruguing character.  His abilities, attitude and mysterious past seem to all line up in a way that I wanted to follow along with him and see his side of the story.  He has so much to tell, and yet so much to unravel about himself as well.  Despite the rough and scatter hand of cards he's been given, Grey still shows an innate softness and care for those he holds close. 

Harper has all the aspects of a great heroine, but I feel the author hinges everything on her disability, and yet its rarely addressed in the novel.  It's almost as though it's just for the ✨ d r a m a ✨ and the "I'm not like other girls" trope (ugh), and not to really showcase how exceptional Harper is despite - and because- of it. I think if there was substance and heart going into developing her character more, Harper could really shine as bright as I know she can.  She has a spark big enough to even set Emberfall ablaze, truly.

If you need a softer, yet still slightly gritty retelling, this is a solid one. Very spunky, goofy and generally easy-going-ish book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Torture, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, War, Blood, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Stalking, Terminal illness, Ableism, Bullying, Confinement, Gun violence, and Medical content

Minor: Child death, Cursing, Classism, Misogyny, and Sexism

lotte5322's review against another edition

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Abandonment, Blood, Cancer, Confinement, Death of parent, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, and War

bookishgoob's review

adventurous hopeful lighthearted mysterious 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

4.25

This was such a great beauty and the beast retelling. beauty and the beast has always been my least favorite disney story, just because others were better to me. but this story made me realize how much i actually like this story. i am upset with the inkling of a love triangle. love triangles are my least favorite trope, and having a love triangle brew between harper, rhen, and gray made me want to stop reading a few times. I would much rather have harper and gray be besties and have an intense pining love between rhen and harper than the hunt that gray and harper have feelings for each other. i can’t wait to start the second book, as soon as the my hood at the library becomes available! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Suicide attempt, Violence, and War