Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

Beyond the Black Door by A.M. Strickland

7 reviews

friendly_neighborhood_grandma's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Abandonment, Classism, and Death

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Drug use, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Murder, Blood, Forced institutionalization, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Gaslighting, Outing, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Sexual assault, Acephobia/Arophobia, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Suicidal thoughts, and War

aqulia's review

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

I loved the world building in Beyond the Black Door.  Everything I saw of the world was intriguing and immersive.  However, I would have liked to see more of the different aspect of the gods and the darkness, along with more specifics of Ranta and the king's bond.  I liked most of the characters, and I really appreciate an ace protagonist, and that she's alloromantic.  However, I would have liked to see more of Agrir, the king and

uncorrupted Razim

, because their characters felt under used.  I also wasn't a fan of Kamai and Vehyn's dynamic, but that may just be preference.  In summary, Beyond the Black Door is a book with phenomenal world building and great characters we don't see quite enough of.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Murder, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Kidnapping

Minor: Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Alcohol, and Sexual content

nutmegandpumpkin's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

If I’m being honest, I had a hard time deciding what to rate this book. There were quite a few things that weren’t great but my enjoyment outweighed most of those. If I was reviewing it strictly on writing quality and technicalities my rating would be less high. But I’d feel ingenious rating it lower because it was the prefect book I needed at the time I read it. So my review is just going to be a simple pros and cons list so you can decide for yourself (i was able to thoroughly enjoy it despite the cons)

Pros:
- diverse cast (both LGBTQ+ and skin color)
—> main character is on the asexual spectrum which was refreshing
—> secondary character is trans
—> multiple side characters are gay, bisexual, etc.
-interesting plot revolving around dreams and souls and sleep 
- tension and suspense is done really well
- fictional pantheon that I found interesting
- likable main character
- light and fun read

Cons:
- sometimes things happen and it feels very much like they happen for plot reasons (they don’t feel as natural and it can pull you out of immersion a bit)
- some of the descriptions of buildings felt like they went on a little longer than necessary 
- quite a few cliches  
- felt rushed in some places
- left me wanting a bit more immersion and depth when it came to the worldbuilding (more about how the world works!)

neutral:
- toxic relationship (sometimes it feels like it’s romanticized and sometimes it feels like its not, it wasn’t clear so it might depend on how you read it)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Suicide attempt, Blood, Sexism, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Pregnancy

Minor: Cursing

ursociallyawkwardbud's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Acephobia/Arophobia

bpet's review

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book has so many diverse characters. What I loved that though it’s a book about asexuality, and other sexuality’s, it’s not the main focus. It has a wonderful plot that has a great build up. The book left me wanting more instead of being glad to finish it. The author also created a different religion for the book, which is difficult but it was explained quite well. Also plenty of descriptive words, it transports you right into the setting. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Blood

foreverinastory's review

adventurous dark mysterious slow-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

5.0

This is a dark fantasy I didn't know my soul needed.

Rep: demi-biromantic asexual female MC, trans male asexual side character, gay Black male side character, elderly Black female side character, queer supporting characters, queer-norm world.

CWs: alcohol consumption, blood, death, death of parents, fire/fire injury, gaslighting/manipulation, grief, injury/injury detail, murder, toxic relationship, violence. Moderate: suicidal thoughts, suicide attempt (does not go through with it), attempted kidnapping, drug use (consensual and non-consensual). Minor: infidelity. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Kidnapping, and Drug use

Minor: Infidelity

story_goblin's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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? It's complicated

4.0

I don't even remember how I heard about this book- some algorithm somewhere I think pulled it as similar to what else I read. Honestly, the premise did sound interesting, but I read "asexual main character" and immediately put it on my TBR list. It took me a while to get my hands on it and then even longer to finally find the time and space to read it. Even then, I almost couldn't. I was extremely stressed when I started this book and seeing a young girl think she has a voice when she's really just being manipulated and controlled by men was just too much; I had to set it down until I wasn't as stressed. But I finally finished it and am very glad I did. Overall this is a unique premise/world with great characters and a promise that a path CAN indeed be found no matter how dark or hopeless things may seem.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Child abuse, Violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, and Self harm

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Pregnancy