Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht

20 reviews

wyrmes's review against another edition

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

4.5


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starship_olympus's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

The prose and imagery are absolutely wonderful!! Gothic horror just isn’t my cup of tea, hence the low (personal) rating. I can imagine though, if you love a dark protagonist in a spooky, pre-apocalyptic Gothic, Northern town, this is the book for you.
I did like the mythos and the world building! I’d love to learn more about the stories and gods of this world. 

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lua_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

The book is a really fun and tense read with some good and interesting writing. The romance in it is very fun to read in a kinda  intoxicating way (Do be warned that it's a romance between very twisted people, so it's really not the cute or lovely type of romance), theres a lot of witty back and forth, and tension between the couple. If you want to read a book that genuinely has a villainous main character(s), mysterious world, and engaging character relations this one is the perfect pick. (But maybe do look at the TWs first)

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river24's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

5/5
Where do I even begin? This is the most beautiful, well-written book that I've ever read. The writing is magical, every single line holds so much depth and emotion. I loved every single aspect of this book!
It's dark and bloody and so, so incredible. The relationship between the two main characters had me screaming in this venomous glee. It was–for lack of a better word–gloriously fucked up. Their relationship teetered precariously over the cliffside, swaying back and forth between the firmness of the crumbling soil and the black waters below. I cannot describe with words how perfect this book was. The relationship also reminded me a lot of the relationship between Hannibal and Will in the Hannibal TV show.
This book delves into a shadowed city with a vengeance at its heart and a monster on its heels. I always adore when books explore what it means to be a monster and what it means to be human, this book did so flawlessly in a non-explicit way.
Queer horror as a genre is something I always love and always come back to, please give me recommendations if you have any !! This book was everything and is something that I'll be recommending forever–I will not be forgetting about this book anytime soon!
I always stand by the fact that magic is a metaphor for queerness and I think that the horror genre often holds its own unique spin on queerness in its bloody jaws and both of those factors I am in awe of every single time.
This is quite a short book therefore this review doesn't go into immense detail because I don't want to spoil it, but trust me this book is worth your blood, sweat, tears and more.
Some of my favourite quotes were; 'Don't you feel it, sometimes? As if the world wants to consume itself.' 'Magic is not in the brain, miss; it is in the bones.' 'Thin ice isn’t a problem for the sea; it’s a problem for the blind idiot who steps out on it.'

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mthevice's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Beautiful writing

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aardwyrm's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Pure dark chocolate in unsafe proportions, lovingly rendered villain protagonists full of weird, macabre nonsense and loads of gothic vibes. Skillfully rendered, 100% atmosphere by volume, self indulgent and exquisitely so. Anyway there's weird magic and a lotta murder.

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inferiorwit's review

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challenging dark mysterious sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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keen's review against another edition

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

3.5


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moralquibbling's review against another edition

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dark funny tense fast-paced
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

So so so brilliantly twisted and dark. The writing was lush and gorgeous and every passage was steeped in such phenomenal sharp and violent description. None of the characters were remotely likeable, but they were all fascinating anyways, and I think I still managed to love them all in some weird way. And it was full of dark and dry humour that genuinely added to the dark atmosphere of the novella. Obviously, I adored it and would recommend it to everyone (although do watch out for the content warnings), but it's also so short that you might as well try it out for yourself even if you're unsure if you'd like it.

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wimbleimble's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Good stuff.

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