Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

19 reviews

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

librarianheaven's review

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-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

4.75

Though it was a bit hard to start reading the beginning, it started getting good after that and it honestly got me hooked lol. I would have given it a 5 star if it wasn't for the beginning, but overall I really liked the book :)) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, War, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Cancer, and Alcohol

Minor: Ableism

sleepysadpoet's review

adventurous dark hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

It wasn't until I was over halfway through that I learned this was a retelling of the beauty and the beast--despite it literally being on the cover. I know, I'm the worst.
I've yet to read any fantasy-esque books with a disabled main character, and I really appreciated that representation. Harper has cerebral palsy and a bit of a limp as a result. I don't have cp, but I have a limp from other conditions, and it was pretty cool seeing a badass mc that has a limp. Admittedly in the beginning I didn't like Grey or Rhen, but they grew on me. This book was really good, and the whole series was on the buy 2 get the 3rd free table at books-a-million, and I'm glad I got the whole series because I'm about to sit my happy ass down and read the second one until I fall asleep tonight.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness

Minor: Cancer, Ableism, Violence, Alcohol, and Death of parent

scarlett_f's review

adventurous dark 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

4.0

LGBTq, cerebral palsy

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Minor: Death, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Cancer, Physical abuse, and Suicide attempt

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

eeread247's review

adventurous funny tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Alcohol

readwithde's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense 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? It's complicated

4.25

This may be my favorite Beauty and the Beast retelling. 

First, I love having any character, but especially a MC with a chronic disease or disability. It was handled so well in the narrative; it never felt like a plot point or focus, but simply part of Harper. 

Second, I really liked the way the romance between Rhen and Harper played out. The friendship and trust is built first, then the romance begins to bloom. I liked that there was initial attraction, but it was a true slow burn. Normally I'm impatient about that, but it felt so organic and well-developed. 

I'm less of a fan of the

love triangle with Grey. At first, it felt like he was a brother figure to both, especially when Harper compared him to Jake a few times. Honestly, I would ship him with Rhen over Harper.

I do like how Grey's narrative turned out, for the most part.

Being a "halfling" human and magic user, and perhaps heir to the throne, was a big revelation, and I'm glad we saw him struggling with that in the epilogue.

I was most excited about how the kingdom and the people reacted to Rhen and his decision to start doing something for them. It helped build up the story to be worth a trilogy instead of a single book.

Even though it's off-brand for me, I like the semi-vague ending

of whether or not Harper loves Rhen, whether she broke the curse or if Grey did.

While there's still a clean ending, a resolution, it gives room for more play in the series without stirring up extra (i.e. unnecessary) drama.

Overall, I really liked it, and I'm excited to read more in the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and War

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Torture

bookcaptivated's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Ableism, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Torture and Kidnapping

Minor: Vomit, Infidelity, Cancer, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Alcohol