Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard

3 reviews

ribbenkast's review

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.75

This was such a great read! For a debut it's really strong. I read this in one day and I could not put the book down. 

Small notes: It could've done with some quicker pacing in the second half of the book. The stylistic choice (?) of not adding quotation marks anywhere was a bit weird and made it hard to read sometimes.

However, the premise was really strong and the plot did deliver on said premise. The world building seems really thoughtful, I love it when authors think the consequences of their magical world through and present us with things like folklore and sensible governing structures.

Despite the setting, I liked it that the story mainly focused on the people. Odile is a great and complicated character, very well written.  

If you like timeline fuckery, this one is for you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, and Alcohol

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Medical content, and Sexual harassment

michad's review

adventurous emotional sad fast-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

A good book. The frenchisms take a little getting used to and the presence of cars feels so out of place and anachronistic. I was expecting more exploration of the mechanics and secrets of the world, the change in direction of the second half took me by surprise. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

takecoverbooks's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Alcohol

Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicide, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Blood, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship