Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid

190 reviews

chrisljm's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

1.25

Meh. Not a fan of the narration, which read like poetry but in the way where I just don't know wtf they're talking about sometimes. The folklore is written well but it became repetitive and too drawn out, making the story drag. 

Also for all the people who recommended this book because of the romance, you had to be making shit up because the romance sucked. Not to say the romance came out of nowhere, because I knew it was going to happen, but there was absolutely no build up at all. I didn't care for any of the characters, which is besides the point because they also had no chemistry at all. I truly don't understand what Gáspár liked about Évike because she was honestly dumb as fuck. She had no common sense and no sense of self preservation. She absolutely refused to think before any of her actions, even when Gáspár explicitly explains how she'd make the situation worse. She also spends majority of the book belittling Gáspár, and constantly attacking him on how she thinks he's ashamed they've laid and slept together, even though they have so many other things to worry about. He literally tries to get her to think before doing something rash and getting them both killed and she accuses him of fearing people will found out he's no longer pure. Like be fucking fr. 

The book also touches on religious/ethical/moral themes but honestly with the messy plot and execution, flat characters, and confusing narration, I honestly don't know what the take away was supposed to be. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Colonisation, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Self harm, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Blood, Religious bigotry, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Confinement, Abandonment, Bullying, Genocide, War, and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Fatphobia, and Vomit

fightoplankton's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

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

krows_ink's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.5

A breath of fresh air rlly. Gáspár is baby girl. Also the religious aspect was so in-depth. I hope Ava Reid comes out with a short story collection. I would also, as Gáspár would say — sully my soul for a book from Gáspár’s perspective!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, and Gore

maresuju's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Religious bigotry, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Animal death, Antisemitism, Colonisation, Death, Genocide, Gore, Self harm, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Torture, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and War

beccaand's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

this was super interesting (and similar-ish in feel to Spinning Silver), but i don't think audiobook was a good choice for me?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Antisemitism, Animal death, Religious bigotry, Gore, Self harm, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Death of parent and War

jaybird_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

5.0

Read the book you will NOT regret it!! A dark, gorey fantasy with a cast of fully dimensional female characters and a well-done enemies-to-lovers romance. I don’t even want to say much else because it’s just such a good read. I loved the main character and the love interest is babygirl to me!!

Readers who dislike religion (even in the fictional setting) may want to pass this one over because it’s such a heavy theme but I thought it was delicious. 

The critique: the author LOVES purple prose and cannot stop herself from writing as many metaphors as possible. This is a pro or con depending on personal taste imo. 

PS there’s a pronunciation guide at the back of the book lol

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, Violence, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, War, Death, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Sexual content and Vomit

k_galloway's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

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

2.25

a promising start that fizzled out about a quarter of the way through. beautiful visual writing, almost poetic at times, that’s foiled by a scatterbrained storyline, horrendous pacing, and a string of plot devices in place of an actual plot. the love story exists in a repetitive, long-winded loop of conversation that feels more taxing than enjoyable to read. this could have been about 200 pages shorter and it wouldn’t have made a difference to the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Violence, Religious bigotry, Antisemitism, Cultural appropriation, Gore, Racism, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

emily_bg'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
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, and Religious bigotry

katievallin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Xenophobia, War, Vomit, Blood, Child abuse, Genocide, Death, Racism, Religious bigotry, Torture, Grief, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, Gore, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Murder, Violence, Animal death, Antisemitism, and Bullying

Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Sexual content

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Body shaming, and Alcohol

anastasiadreaming's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

2.0

I really wanted to love this one, and unfortunately it didn’t work out. I’m granting one star for the atmosphere, and another for Gáspár, but I’m stripping three for how nonsensical Évike’s decision-making was. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Self harm, and Lesbophobia