Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

24 reviews

elenats's review

adventurous dark emotional funny fast-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

4.0

Not sure if this was the intent, but this read to me like a new take on Beauty and the Beast 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gun violence

aureolyn's review against another edition

dark sad

4.0

I really enjoyed this one. A darker retelling of Beauty and the Beast which is my favorite Disney Princess movie. Back then, I didn’t really know how to explain to others why it was my favorite or why I liked it so much but now that I’m older, I understand it wasn’t Belle but the Beast that I was connecting and relating to. Growing up was rough and I still don’t really think anyone could learn to love me cause I don’t even love me. But I digress, some things I liked in this retelling were how it fills in some plot holes on the Beast’s background and family. I think it’s also an interesting concept of how he doesn’t immediately turn into a beast and when he does, he loses himself—only to wake up to the cruel reality of what he has done as the beast. It’s so dark and so lonely! I didn’t really like the reveal at the end though and I’m not sure if I want to start the next book. I also didn’t realize until the end that the mc was a literal child and I’m a little uncomfortable about it:/

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Blood, Gore, Violence, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Cancer, Kidnapping, and War

Minor: Abandonment, Grief, and Gun violence

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

onefineelephant's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.5

9/10. I really enjoyed this book. Not gonna lie, the beginning was pretty confusing and I was worried that it was gonna stay that way. However, after only like 3 (short) chapters, it got really good. I love the alternating POV. My only slight critique of this book was that there was A LOT going on. There were multiple complicated plot points and a lot of side characters but overall, I think the author did a nice job of having a lot going on but only enough that it advanced the story in an organic way. Also, the romance was nice, though I wish the characters were aged up just a couple years (not in a weird way, 16/17/18 just seems really young to be for the maturity levels of these characters). I am always a sucker for the "he fell first" and "he fell harder" tropes. Also, as a disabled person, I appreciated how the fmc's disability was incorporated and acknowledged. Definitely recommend.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Body horror and Child death

Minor: Abandonment, Ableism, Gun violence, Rape, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Cancer, Cannibalism, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Terminal illness

sammykat's review

adventurous medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Gun violence

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

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

asahome's review against another edition

4.0

A man falls for the 399th woman dropped into his lap to court. A woman labeled inferior for her cerebral palsy suddenly finds a way to have it not be a problem.

Content Warnings added by A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer - Book Trigger Warnings
Representation: Disability (Cerebral palsy), MLM couple (side characters)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death, Kidnapping, and War

Moderate: Terminal illness, Gun violence, Alcohol, and Death of parent

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