Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig

39 reviews

straybutterfly's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Murder, Blood, Gore, Misogyny, Violence, and Body horror

Minor: Grief, Alcohol, Child abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, and Classism

crinkledmochi's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

VIBES!!!! 
Gothic, mystical, yet darkly cozy. 

the romance was cute but definitely needed more fleshing out as everything happened within the span of a couple weeks. 

the worldbuilding! yes ma’am, I hope that in the next book the world kinda opens up a bit more but with the way this book ended I don’t think we’re going very far. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Bullying, Sexual content, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Abandonment, Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, Confinement, Death, Miscarriage, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Misogyny, and Vomit

erinreadsbooks's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

This book just didn’t grip me. I felt like the first 75% of the book moved really slowly and I felt myself getting bored. The reveal of

the Nightmare being the old king

also felt prolonged—it was fairly obvious that this was the case so when it was “revealed” to Elspeth and the reader, it just felt underwhelming. I don’t enjoy when it feels like the author is underestimating the reader, and this was one of those times.

I also wasn’t a big fan of the romance, but that may be personal preference as I don’t enjoy the “love at first sight” trope. 

The concept of the story—a bargain with a greater entity that takes more each time one asks for favors—is really compelling, and the ending was interesting. I just wanted the whole book to be as eventful and impactful as the last 25%. 

Read if you like dark fantasy involving bargains for power with a tiny bit of romance. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Blood, Death, Gore, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Infidelity, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Child abuse, Murder, Sexual content, and Child death

howboutjane's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

4.0

Dr. Seuss for adults that like dark fantasy. Really interesting magic system, solid plot and a cute slow burn romance. Great read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Blood

Minor: Torture, Child abuse, Abandonment, Sexual content, and Child death

cliff hanger ending

mtorma13's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Gore, and Violence

Minor: Child death and Child abuse

alba_1994's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

2.5

This had a great premise. I just felt the character design was very shallow which resulted in inconsistent actions and undeep relationships.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Violence

Moderate: Genocide, Murder, Child death, Death of parent, Child abuse, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content

thewarbler's review against another edition

The plot just did not pull me in and I wasn’t interested in the overall outcome. The premise was interesting, but just not executed well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Violence

ihonkfordragons's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.5

Loved this book! The mystery kept me guessing, but at the end I could look back and see all the hints had been there all along. The Providence  Cards, the magic system, and the overall world had great dark fairy tale vibes. I cannot express how much I enjoyed the use of rhyme in this story!! Great change of pace. 🌶🌶 Very mild spice but a very tender romance with a slow, gradual build that felt so natural and right.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse

kaylaswhitmore's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading the second one! Gillig’s prose is both elevated and easy to follow, invoking something similar in feel to classic Victorian literature with a distinctly modern twist. Her pacing was great—neither slow or fast, and with just enough action to keep readers excited. However, I will say that I felt her world-building lacked a smidgen of severity. While we are often told in the first 2/3rds of the book that it is quite dangerous to be an infected person in Blunder, I think the tension could have benefitted from an earlier example of the King’s brutality (i.e. someone Elspeth knew being taken away, or her witnessing a public execution). In that regard, I do feel as if some of the stakes fell a tiny bit flat due to the lack of “showing” in comparison to “telling.” Despite that, I easily tumbled into the magic of the woods and mist and cards, and thoroughly enjoyed the twists and turns of Elspeth’s journey through such a tempestuous town. Excited to see how this story concludes!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, and Blood

Moderate: Death, Murder, Child abuse, Cursing, Alcohol, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

There is a slight, barely there mention of mind/body control of a man over a woman where it is insinuated to have been a very negative experience for the woman. It doesn’t mention any details about the nature of the mind/body control, but thought it was worth mentioning nonetheless.

mzquirk's review against another edition

dark 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Confinement, Bullying, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual content, and Violence