Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Drowned Woods

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones

32 reviews

abby_can_read's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

4.0

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📱
I liked this book more after re-reading it. The writing style kept me engaged and the plot was interesting. I liked the characters and the their relationships.

⭐️⭐️⭐️-November 2023
📱

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kiwij96's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

I am a sucker for stories with Cymraeg in them and those which are based on welsh folk tales such as this one. Seeing my country's language and cultural tales in a book is always an amazing feeling.

Six of Crows meets Welsh folk tales in this short YA standalone. The last water diviner is on a quest to overthrow the Prince with a group of misfits: a thief, a spy, a scholar, a soldier, a ring-fighter, and a corgi who loves cheese. I mean really, what is ther not to like?

Some parts of the story do feel like they go on a bit but overall the story was well-paced with some great characters and some great twists.

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j_emerson18's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

OH. MY. GOD. This book is everything to me. The connections to the previous book was unmatched. Emily Lloyd Jones stands as my top three favorite author. She's phenomenal. The characters drive me crazy and have me so invested in their well being. The banter is top tier. Dear God this was such an amazing read. So incredibly invested in this fictional universe.

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novelty_reads's review

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

When I first started reading this book, I genuinely thought it would become my new favourite.

It started with the prologue. I was immersed in the story from the first page. I loved the writing style, Mer's backstory and her awesome ability to manipulate water.

The book follows Mer, a water diviner who was previously taken into the Prince's care and forced to poison the Prince's enemies. Constantly on the run, wanting freedom, she reunites with her old handler wondering if she'd like to get revenge on the Prince and take him down.

To me, this book started great. I was hooked from the start and I was very curious to see how the book would go, and where. It did slow a bit in the middle, that's where it started to lose me, until the end where a lot of action occurred. I did expect some plot twists and betrayals early on though, so they didn't take me by surprise as much. Nevertheless, I enjoyed seeing how the story would unfold.

Overall, I enjoyed the pace of the book, the writing style (which was very descriptive and atmospheric) and I liked the characters too, specifically Mer, Fane and Ifanna. Despite not having read The Bone Houses, I really liked the epilogue too.

ACTUAL RATING: 3.9 STARS

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amy_reading_23's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

This was a fun book. It was refreshing to read a fantasy based off of Welsh mythology. I actually really liked the protagonist and thought she was cool. There were a few twists I didn't expect. I would have liked to have gone more into the lore and world of the fey and feel like the plot probably could have slowed down for that. But it was an enjoyable fast read.

I really liked the ex girlfriend character at first but then felt she got a little wet and not as cool as she originally was which is a shame. It would have been possible to make her both care and be badass. I feel like more time could have been spent on this character.

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thenovelmaura's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

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

3.0

Thank you to NOVL for sending me an ARC of this book long ago! This book was pretty lackluster for me, which feels overly critical because there's nothing inherently wrong with it. It just felt like a book I had read before, with characters I've read before. Mer had powerful magic and was snarky, Fane was quiet and brooding, Ifanna was also snarky, and the corgi was a cute animal sidekick. Mer is bisexual but the romance featured in the book was both straight and bland.

On the other hand, the audiobook narration was great and I really enjoyed the writing style and all the nods to Welsh mythology. There were also some sections within the book where I was fully engaged (like the cave scenes) and the ending was sweet, setting aside the overall plot. So I miiiight try Lloyd-Jones' companion novel to this one? But the plot and characters here didn't impress me.

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