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mikaelaandherbooks's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Toxic friendship
Moderate: Death
Minor: Sexual content, Infidelity, and Pedophilia
maeverose's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.75
TL;DR: The writing and gothic atmosphere are a 10/10. Gave me Rebecca vibes. So satisfied with the ending.
I love how gothic and atmospheric this book is. I loved the dreamlike magical realism elements. I almost want to immediately re read this and annotate it. I didn’t even realize until I finished it and I don’t know if it was intentional (since I’ve heard this is a bluebeard retelling) but Bridegroom’s pov felt very reminiscent of Rebecca. With his quick marriage to Indigo and her secret past with Azure, who’s almost supernaturally tied to the house. And him being unnamed throughout the whole book (which I love).
I found zero objective flaws with this book (outside of the unnecessary body shaming of one of the antagonists), but the main thing that makes me hesitant to give it five stars is that at a few points it triggered my anxiety a little bit (it might’ve just been because I had too much caffeine that day honestly lol). I also really don’t like to read about toxic friendships, which is a big part of this book.
But mostly I loved it
“Too often the truth of a memory lives not in the mind but in the heart, in the subtle and sacred organization that makes up one’s identity. But it is a tender place to reach, and I am wounded by touching it.”
Graphic: Death, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Child death, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Blood, Bullying, Body horror, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Rape, and Self harm
Minor: Cursing and Fatphobia
Graphic: Animal harm, suffocation, cult behavior Moderate: Delusions/Unreality, step father grooming his step daughter, as for the gore, most of it is kind of metaphorical or in the fairytales, so it’s not super descriptive but it’s brought up a lot so I put it in moderate.midnightrose_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This is a very well written story, full of metaphors and descriptive prose. I’m not a magical realism fan, but this was a solid book. I do think that it’s being slightly mis-marketed, though. People going into it thinking it’s a fantasy book, and not a magical realism book are sure to be disappointed.
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Child death, and Chronic illness
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Sexual content and Blood
lizgriffinwords's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Gothic and haunting, excellent for fans of Addie Larue or Juniper & Thorn. This is the kind of book that people rightfully call an instant classic, drawing from myth and folklore and fairytales while simultaneously being wholly different.
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship
Minor: Murder and Sexual content