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shinyfox's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Death, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, and Grief
Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Sexual content
Minor: Dysphoria, Homophobia, Alcohol, Transphobia, and Racism
bkwrm1317's review
- 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
Heart, Haunt, Havoc is quite dark and brooding, a bit funny, and really tender in the most lovely way.
Protagonist, Colin (really both main characters are protags of this story), is hired to complete a sort of exorcism of a house for Bishop. Little does Colin know that Bishop comes from a family line of brujería, where Tezcatlipoca, the Mexica (Aztec) god who governs the night sky, is connected directly to Bishop and offers Bishop a unique magic.
I am generally not a fan of romance, but there was just the right balance between sensual/romance-y scenes in this novella with plot and story arc, as well as individual character/protagonist growth. Further, Moon writes desire incredibly convincingly.
I loved the additional nerd references peppered into the novella here and there as well (e.g. listening to Critical Role, and how Moon intersperses these lighter references with the occult, demonic posession and integration, and angelic stuff a la Catholicism.
I will definitely be continuing this series outside of my Indie Ink judging capacity, as there are two more novellas already published in the series, and I can't wait to get to them likely later this year.
Check CWs and note that all minor CWs I've listed are either not emotionally charged or mostly in passing within the novel (e.g. animal death is part of a ritual sacrifice of a familiar, which is reanimated, so animal cruelty is not part of CWs, etc.).
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Death, Animal death, Blood, and Toxic relationship
biobeetle's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Toxic relationship
jennireadsmaybe's review
- 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
Graphic: Blood, Animal death, Grief, and Death
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Sexual content
rhhapsodos's review
4.0
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Grief, and Sexual content
elisepage's review
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Grief, Violence, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
triple_m's review
I found myself lost sometimes in who was talking about who and I had a hard time grasping that the one named Bishop was NOT the preacher-adjacent person.
Ultimately DNFed because there’s too much religion in this book for my personal taste. Definitely my fault for not realizing that going into it. It’s about demons and a haunted house so it’s not odd for one character to be super Catholic.
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Stalking
Minor: Sexual content
smellymiche's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Animal death, Grief, Blood, and Murder
stormeno's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Grief, Alcohol, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Blood, Death, and Gaslighting
Minor: Transphobia
enchantressreads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Blood, Gore, and Grief
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Death, Animal death, and Toxic relationship