Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

House of Roots and Ruin by Erin A. Craig

5 reviews

meant2breading's review

challenging 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

3.5

House of Roots and Ruins expands the world Craig developed within House of Salt and Sorrows and I enjoyed learning even more about the magic system and its tie to the Gods. While I favor book one, there is a lot to love about this book. The descriptions in this story are so lush and it is EXACTLY the type of dark, gothic, and a little eerie atmosphere I want to be hooked into. I think you’ll enjoy this book if you love Romantasy with some ghosts, dark and twisty vibes, and a murder mystery. I personally liked some aspects of the romance not all (if you know you know) and did not like the ending, so this is where my rating fell slightly, but I did enjoy the different FMC this time. Plus, the world Craig created was very hard to step away from. I’ll plan to read book three if written and more from this author!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Sexual assault, and Medical trauma

winterhartarts's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Abortion, Death of parent, Acephobia/Arophobia, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

ash_bees's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

sunshine_kait's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

lastblossom's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

tl;dr
A beautiful gothic horror that combines stunning imagery and a genuinely creepy mystery. Strong recommend.

Thoughts
I devoured this in a day, and my heart is still pounding even as I write this review. I have a deep love for gothic horror and for stories about flowers and things that grow from the earth, so this book is my "reese's peanut butter cups" of storytelling. A quiet sense of dread permeates the story, with paranoia ramping up on each page, as literal gaslights light a beautiful house full of terrifying secrets. I loved the thorough world building, and the imagery and location are very clear in my mind. It can be easy for the heroines of gothic novels to feel a little too unaware of their surroundings, but Verity is a good balance between canny and trusting. She's definitely out of her depth, but never in way that seems like she is actively being a fool. While there is a romance in here, a lot of it develops off page and through time skips, so readers don't get to see much of it unfold in real time. The tradeoff is that we get to focus on the mystery, with plenty of clues and some incredibly creepy reveals. Strong recommend for anyone in the mood for some gothic horror.

Of note, this book is a follow-up to House of Salt and Sorrows, but you don't need the previous book to jump into this one (there will be some spoilers for it, though).

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children's for an advance copy. All thoughts in this review are my own.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Child abuse, Violence, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury