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Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'
Twee Verstrengelde Kronen by Rachel Gillig, Rachel Gillig
167 reviews
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have split feelings about this book. Part of me feel like the first book could have included 50-100 more pages and the whole story would have been wrapped up. It feels like the editors/agent/publisher said the story should be stretched to 2 books instead of one because of profits. The other part of me enjoys being in this world again, learning more about the history of the people and the land.
In this book the chapters are split between Elm, Ravyn, and The Nightmare/Elsbeth point of view. They are all trying to figure out how to find the last card, reunited the deck, and overthrow the current monarchy while saving all the people who are degrading from the magic. Most of the chapters end with a cliffhanger or a lingering question that you have to wait about 2 chapters before it can be answered. Some parts of each point of view was interesting and moved the story along, while some of the others felt like filler.
Because of my spilt feelings I couldn’t give it a solid 4 and I have some questions and concerns about things that happened or were explained in this book.
Elm’s New love story:
In the first book Elm was mostly used as comedic relief. Ravyn was too serious and was always planning. So Elm was there to lighten things up but also be the voice of reason. The romance in the first book was between Ravyn and Elsbeth, but since Elsbeth’s soul is lost in this book, the romance or romantic aspect of the book couldn’t continue until her soul was returned. This wasn’t going to happen right away, so they had to pair up another couple. I always thought the first book was tasteful with its romance and if the romance was taken away, it would still be a good story about people coming together to overthrow the king and save their homeland.
Elm never came off as the type of guy that cared for relationships like that. Yet at the beginning of this book he is constantly looking at a certain person with lust. In the last book he looked at everyone with distain and cracked jokes. The sudden attitude change seems to be just to make this a Romantasy book. There had to be a romance with someone and these two each drew the short straw.
With that said, given what he went through as a child, I’m happy for him that he found someone that gets him and loves him for him.
Talking about his childhood, this book felt like it was trying to tap into the “A Court of Mist and Fury Effect”. ACOMAF was heavily about trauma, overcoming your trauma, having people that love you despite your past and was willing to help you get better. This was basically Elm’s story line in this book.
Ravyn Doesn’t Understand Boundaries:
Ravyn broke my heart in that first book because he broke his promise. He promised he would not enter El’s head and he did. How can you be trusted if you break your promises? Then in this book he repeatedly kept trying to enter her mind even though he was explicitly told not to by The Nightmare. All because of his wants and desires. Was I suppose to be okay with this and forgive him? He just made me like him less. Especially how he spent most of the book questioning wither El’s love for him was truthful because she had this big secret. Meanwhile he is full of secrets. Some secrets he doesn’t even learn about until the end of the book.
The Spirit of the Wood and Salt.
So in this world, whenever people smelled salt, it was an indicator that magic was being performed or the Spirit of the Wood was doing something. In most stories with magic, salt is used to dispel magic or a form of protection against it. I wonder why salt was used to show magic was being used. It’s also weird that when they finally meet the Spirit of the Woods, she’s on a beach. Why is the spirit of the WOODS on a beach with an endless shore? I mean, sure, that would explain the salt smell, but not everything else.
The Cards and Their magic
In the first book, I think it was mentioned somewhere that there were 78 cards. 1 Twin Alders Card, 2 Nightmare cards, 3 ?? cards, 4 Scythe, … etc. We know the Nightmare’s soul was put into the Nightmare card, but wouldn’t that mean his soul was split into two, or maybe 3, like a Horcrux? That was never explained in the book. What would have happened if El touched the 2nd Nightmare card?
So much Repetition:
So many stories and poems were repeated over and over. At times it felt like filler to just add more words to the book. Each time the same thing was repeated over again, about 20% of the information was new. I understand part of this was because it was in the form of dreams or memories, but still.
To end on a good note.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Abandonment
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
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:
Yes
I enjoyed this duology from start to finish. The magic system is original from others I've read. Rachel develops the characters well at the same time as keeping the plot fast paced - I was hooked!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship
Minor: Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse
Minor: Bullying
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Sexual content, Blood, Death of parent, Alcohol
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood
Moderate: Sexual content, Murder
Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Physical abuse
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Infidelity, Toxic relationship
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Five star duology. LOVED it.
This second book followed up amazingly. Beautifully crafted plot, complex characters, poetically written, funny quips. A delight to read.
This second book followed up amazingly. Beautifully crafted plot, complex characters, poetically written, funny quips. A delight to read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Vomit
Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
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
Again, the prose in this book is stunning. So much lovely poetry and creative writing. Rachel Gillig is a beautiful writer.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Child death, Infidelity, Vomit
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Abandonment
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Death of parent
Minor: Confinement, Emotional abuse
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The author made an interesting choice with this second book in her duology: the narrator and protagonist from book 1, Elspeth, plays a much lesser role in this second half of the story.
Elspeth is there but much less present, and because there's little action she can take, she's not one of the characters moving the story forward.
Instead, it's her love interest (Ravyn) and three secondary characters from book 1 who take center stage. We readers follow the story mainly through two of those characters' (Ravyn and Elm) third-person points of view.
Along the way, those secondary characters—Elm, Ione, and the Shepherd King (a.k.a., the Nightmare)—become much more fully fleshed out.
In the first book (One Dark Window), I had mixed feelings about Elspeth, but I liked the ensemble of fairly well-rounded other characters she was surrounded by. Those characters, plus the story's distinctive system of magic, are what kept me reading.
In one way, I actually enjoyed this second book more than that the first because Elspeth faded back, and the characters I found more interesting—and whose fates I found myself caring a lot about—came to the fore.
The action throughout the story is strong and well paced, and it builds to a satisfying denouement, which is no small storytelling feat. For that reason, as well as the characters, I'd recommend the book.
But I'd add a caveat: some of the writing was distractingly awkward. For example:
"[H]er eyes crashed into Elm's."
"Elm's hand crashed into his pocket."
"[His] gaze collided with Ravyn's."
"the only noise between them was the clenching and unclenching of his jaw."
Then there are descriptors of little physical actions that I'm guessing are intended to convey a character's mood or emotions in a subtle way, but just get distracting because of how often they're used.
Characters are frequently said to bite the insides of their cheeks. Their mouths become thin, fine, or tight lines. Or the corners of their mouths or lips are twitching or curling.
There are also a couple plot points that, to me, aren't cleared up sufficiently at the end.
When does Ione finally get free of the Maiden card when Hauth used it on her again, for example? And does she ever use it again?
What exactly happens to the extra Providence Cards that weren't used as part of "uniting the deck"—like the ones in the Rowan family's vault? The story implies that they still exist, are in circulation among the Blunder populace, and still work magically, but it seems like that fact should be a bigger deal in the kingdom, given what the characters have learned about them?
What did Elspeth's relationship with her father look like after the all that had happened? What about her relationship with her stepmother and twin stepsisters? The latter three are fairly prominent in book 1, so I expected them to be at least mentioned in book 2. But they aren't.
I do think it's a tribute to the rich storytelling and immersive world-building that I could even wonder about such details and care about how the characters' lives went on after all the drama concluded.
Overall, this book is a satisfying romantasy. Just be prepared to overlook some of the writing quirks and loose plot ends.
Elspeth is there but much less present, and because there's little action she can take, she's not one of the characters moving the story forward.
Instead, it's her love interest (Ravyn) and three secondary characters from book 1 who take center stage. We readers follow the story mainly through two of those characters' (Ravyn and Elm) third-person points of view.
Along the way, those secondary characters—Elm, Ione, and the Shepherd King (a.k.a., the Nightmare)—become much more fully fleshed out.
In the first book (One Dark Window), I had mixed feelings about Elspeth, but I liked the ensemble of fairly well-rounded other characters she was surrounded by. Those characters, plus the story's distinctive system of magic, are what kept me reading.
In one way, I actually enjoyed this second book more than that the first because Elspeth faded back, and the characters I found more interesting—and whose fates I found myself caring a lot about—came to the fore.
The action throughout the story is strong and well paced, and it builds to a satisfying denouement, which is no small storytelling feat. For that reason, as well as the characters, I'd recommend the book.
But I'd add a caveat: some of the writing was distractingly awkward. For example:
"[H]er eyes crashed into Elm's."
"Elm's hand crashed into his pocket."
"[His] gaze collided with Ravyn's."
"the only noise between them was the clenching and unclenching of his jaw."
Then there are descriptors of little physical actions that I'm guessing are intended to convey a character's mood or emotions in a subtle way, but just get distracting because of how often they're used.
Characters are frequently said to bite the insides of their cheeks. Their mouths become thin, fine, or tight lines. Or the corners of their mouths or lips are twitching or curling.
There are also a couple plot points that, to me, aren't cleared up sufficiently at the end.
I do think it's a tribute to the rich storytelling and immersive world-building that I could even wonder about such details and care about how the characters' lives went on after all the drama concluded.
Overall, this book is a satisfying romantasy. Just be prepared to overlook some of the writing quirks and loose plot ends.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood
Moderate: Physical abuse, Torture, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Bullying, Murder