Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

Within These Wicked Walls by Lauren Blackwood

21 reviews

emily_mh's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

3.5

I started off LOVING this Jane Eyre retelling. I thought that Blackwood did such a good job at creating Rochester’s desperation in Magnus and the dialogue between Andromeda and Magnus felt as dramatic and devoted as it did in the original. The setting was also really intriguing. However, I liked the book less and less as time went on. There was a lack of context historically and geographically which made it difficult for me to place the book. The romance became the sole focus to the detriment of the more interesting cleansing-the-household plotline. And also the drama in that romance was SO contrived; at some points I didn’t even know what they were disagreeing about. Most importantly, I don’t think it worked well as a Jane Eyre retelling. There was a lack of atmosphere, and also none of the themes of coming-of-age/character development that really makes Jane Eyre stand out to me. Also, the romance in the original is an important part, but not the ONLY part, which is kind of how it ends up in this book. Moreover, I don’t think the toxic relationship between Andromeda and her mentor is given the gravity that it deserved. I also thought that the whole concept of disabilities coming from the attraction of the Evil Eye was super problematic. 

I would by no means say this was bad, it just didn’t live up to the expectations it set and instead presented an average, slightly gothic instalove romance. As a side note, I did listen to the audiobook and thought it was okay. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Murder, and Death of parent

Moderate: Violence, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Ableism

Minor: Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, Gun violence, Racism, Drug use, Mental illness, Slavery, War, Excrement, Rape, Pedophilia, and Suicide

Menstruation, drowning, chronic pain

ruthlessreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I really liked this book & thought it was a beautiful take on Jane Eyre. I loved the main character & the love interest felt very Rochester to me. 

I did not like the forgiveness of the abusive parent figure. Lost a star for that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Bullying, Colonisation, Classism, and Fire/Fire injury

buttermellow's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Death

Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Violence

Minor: Classism, Drug abuse, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Sexism

earlgreyandhoney's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Death of parent, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, and Violence

kayladaila's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Death

Moderate: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Violence

Minor: Body horror, Colonisation, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Trafficking

ellariawrites's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Chronic illness, Gore, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Trafficking, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, and Abandonment

thebakerbookworm's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.5

More inspired by Jane Eyre than a Jane Eyre retelling, this book grabbed me from the beginning and made it hard to put down!

Our main character, Andromeda, was an excellent lead. I loved her determination and  drive, her survival skills, her optimism, and how she searched for love still even though she’d been denied it most of her life. That being said, I do think the romance was too much insta-love for me, but after I got over that and accepted that they were in love, it was a cute romance. I don’t think the romantic interest got enough development (his obliviousness to what was going on is never really addressed), but I did appreciate the complexity in Andromeda’s relationship with her father-figure, and the development that Jember was given.

The spookiness was just the right amount for me—I could read this book at night but it still made me want to keep the lights on. However, I think the world and magic needed a bit more explanation. I kept thinking certain things would get explained later but then they never were, and I was left thinking it was a plot hole.

Overall, a good story with a few great characters, but I would’ve appreciated some more world-building and less insta-love.

Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for my eARC!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Panic attacks/disorders

internationalreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

caseythereader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? No

4.0

Thanks to Wednesday Books for the free advance copy of this book.

 - Y'all know I'm a JANE EYRE lover, so as soon as I heard this was a YA fantasy retelling, I ran to grab a copy. And yes, WITHIN THESE WICKED WALLS delivers!
- I love how Blackwood kept all the pieces of the original story but rearranged them a bit, and it all still works wonderfully. Slight tweaks to relationships, and of course the entire idea of Andromeda being a debtera, relocate this story to the fantasy space quite smoothly, while maintaining the basics of the original characters and plot.
- I was gripped by the action and the imagery. Some of those manifestations are gonna stick with me for real.
- The one thing I wish there was more of was backstory on how the church came to be involved in the debtera process. It felt like there could have been a whole prequel novel here with Jember's experience and Andi's training. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Minor: Racism and Trafficking

foreverinastory's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Thank you to Netgalley & Wednesday Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Rep: Ethiopian female MC, Ethiopian male love interest, Ethiopian male side character with a peg leg and chronic pain, Ethiopian supporting cast.

CWs: Abandonment, blood, child abuse, death/death of parent, emotional abuse, fire, gaslighting, gore, grief, injury/injury detail, murder, slavery, violence. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Slavery, and Violence