Reviews tagging 'Blood'

A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams

8 reviews

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

4.0

this was not at all what i was expecting. this is such an unique take on the romance genre. supernatural/mystical stuff in books isn’t usually my favorite, especially in romance, but this was still thoroughly enjoyable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Racism, Sexual content, Death, Blood, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Mental illness

peachani's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Classism, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Alcohol, Cancer, Hate crime, Mental illness, Miscarriage, and Racism

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Death, Gaslighting, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, and War

kdailyreads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Grief, Sexual content, Suicide, Racism, and Death of parent

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Alcohol, Cancer, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Terminal illness, and Violence

Minor: Miscarriage, Cursing, Drug abuse, Infertility, Police brutality, and War

marena02's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Mental illness, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Classism, Cursing, Self harm, Blood, Abandonment, Racism, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Hate crime, and Violence

znvisser's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

Eesh, Tia Williams can write romance! And with so many more elements that I loved: dramatic and classist family members that could’ve come out of an Austen novel, magical realism, pop culture references that aren’t cringey, and admirable women all over the place. I loved Ricki with all her passion and colourfulness (“Because she (a) found fashion calming and (b) was dramatic, Ricki had dressed carefully for this occasion”.); and Ezra being funny and attractive (“Ricki barely heard him, as she was mid-epiphany. Was Warm Weather Ezra the sexiest Ezra?”) and their entire art-drenched love story, in which their love itself is so wonderfully uncomplicated, despite the circumstances they’re facing together. Loved this!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Terminal illness, Drug abuse, Infertility, Suicide, Abandonment, Miscarriage, Racism, Cancer, Classism, and Death of parent

Minor: Blood and Toxic relationship

nightlight_reader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad 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? No

4.0

This did so much of what I was expecting but never in quite the way I expected it, and I enjoyed the hell out of this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer and Terminal illness

Moderate: Suicide, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Racism, and Death of parent

Minor: Miscarriage and Blood

purplepenning's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

"An intriguing genre-bending story" is what I blandly started to write, which is true but bloodlessly inadequate. This story is stacked and packed with creativity and vitality, with sparkling historical fiction, steamy contemporary romance, time-addling magical realism, dark drama, and characters who are hilarious, powerful, misplaced, wise, awkward, desperate, passionate, generous, and nuanced. It celebrates Black history, Black resilience, Black art, Black joy, and timeless Black love in a tale spun of music, voodoo, lush flowers, fashion, Harlem, leap years, found family, wry commentary, and fated love. Like its protagonist, it may be a bit much for some, but dang — I'm going to be over here thinking and rethinking on it for days and weeks to come, wondering what voodoo allowed Tia Williams to get *gestures expansively* all that into one impressively coherent love story.

I just talked myself into 5 stars. I'm tired of being stingy with minute measures of approval when people are pouring this kind of love, energy, and complexity into their work. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Racism, and Suicide

Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Death, Alcohol, Cancer, Grief, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Abandonment, Chronic illness, and Drug use

Minor: Bullying, Drug abuse, Blood, Death of parent, and Body shaming

jkreads's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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

4.5

{ARC review - huge thanks to Quercus Books for this early copy}

This book was a lush, beautiful experience that has convinced me that I would read Tia Williams’ grocery list if she published it. This book had elements that I was not expecting at all (which I won’t go into here because I don’t want to spoil it, I think it’s best to go into this one blind!), but I ADORED the journey I went on throughout it.

Tia Williams sets a scene SO beautifully and her writing is descriptive without being unnecessarily flowery (pardon the pun). I felt like I was walking through the streets of Harlem alongside Ricki. This book also features quite possibly my favourite side character ever in Ms Della. I fell in love with her instantly and ate up every single scene she was in. And for the Seven Days in June fans, there’s an Eva Mercy/Shane Hall cameo!

I literally didn’t know anything about the history of New York and the Harlem Renaissance going into this, but this story inspired me to read up about it and it is such a rich, interesting piece of history.

And can we talk about this COVER for a hot sec?! I was firmly anti-real people on covers until recently, and thank god I’ve changed my mind so I can fully appreciate this absolute BEAUTY of a cover. The vibes match the story so perfectly, I cannot.

A Love Song for Ricki Wilde is out on February 6 and I highly recommend picking it up if you’re after an immersive, gorgeous romance.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Sexual content, Cancer, Racism, Racial slurs, Hate crime, and Abandonment

Moderate: Slavery, Death, Suicide, Alcohol, Violence, Addiction, and Blood