Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Serpent and dove. La strega e il cacciatore by Shelby Mahurin

26 reviews

violet89's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

liesthemoontells's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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

3.0

This book was INCREDIBLY FRUSTRATING.

For the first 2/3, I felt as if I were reading two different books. One was a compelling fantasy world, dominated by witches with a complex magic system and sociopolitical clan structure. The other was a crappy Throne of Glass Chaol/Celaena fanfic if Chaol was built like a literal bear. While the plot geared up in the last third and the two began to mesh together, I still feel extremely resentful for having to read the early stages of the enemies to lovers plot.

Lou is a very charming protagonist. She has an excellent sense of humour, and as a narrator she drops exposition naturally. Her internal conflict is believable, as are the choices she makes even when they go against her ethics and morals.

The early to middle sections from Reid's perspective are odious and exhausting. Maybe it benefits straight female readers with terrible romantic partners to read the POV of a misogynistic, rage-filled asshole who is changed by the diamond level pussy of his lady love, but I struggle to understand why even they would enjoy it. I guess it's a testament to Mahurin that I didn't still absolutely LOATHE him by the end of the book, but I still dislike him as a character and find their romance plot exhausting.

Some of the sillier plot points are resolved by the end, but others, such as

why the caddish heir to the throne is a) suddenly trusted by a witch with the gravest secret of her people and b) chooses to risk life and limb to assist her and her ragtag friends on a suicide mission

remain a mystery.

Unfortunately, the book ends with an EXTREMELY COMPELLING cliffhanger about the second major witch clan that inhabits the Serpent & Dove universe, so shit, it looks like I'm going to have to read the sequel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

llsacco's review against another edition

challenging medium-paced

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

2.5

I did not find the relationship between these characters believable. It felt like Stockholm syndrome but the oppressed falls for the oppressor in a matter of days? By the end, I did not care enough about these characters to finish the trilogy. 

I listened to the audiobook version of this book and could not get passed how terrible the voice acting was for the male character, especially when relaying lines for the female character. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Murder, Gaslighting, and Classism

frekinney's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

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

5.0

 This was not the kind of relationship I expected when I heard the premise. It was so much better. The development of this relationship and of the characters in general had me hooked through the whole book. Backstories, cliffhanger, so exciting. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse and Emotional abuse

infjkiki's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Vomit, and Death of parent

Minor: Cannibalism

amallard's review against another edition

lighthearted fast-paced

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

0.25

Transphobia? In the year of our Lord 2019?

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Blood, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

hmatt's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.75

This one has been lingering on my shelves for years as a highly-praised gift book, so I'm glad I finally got to it. 

YA "romantasy" is wayyy down the list of genres I gravitate towards, but I did find this enjoyable. The world-building is solid, and the characters are interesting. For me, the complexity of the novel is just right: it's not high high fantasy with a million characters and dynamics, but there is enough there for it to be satisfyingly fleshed-out. I'm even contemplating reading the next book in the series...

That said, I'm still rating based on my taste. This is definitely for a younger audience, and it shows in how some of the relationships develop (including the primary romantic one, in which a switch just seems to flick between one chapter and the next). Some of the writing is clumsy or overly descriptive in a gauche way.

I had fun, though! And I hardly ever read physical books over 400 pages, so that's a big win.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Abandonment

kijatai's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

3.5

I enjoyed it. The world building was good and the main character was interesting. I preferred the story towards the end. I won’t spoil but this is where I could finally feel what the characters were experiencing and I started rooting for them. I actually liked the change of the scenery. 

I just recently started reading again and it’s been hard to get out of my reading slump but this book was easy to read for me and it was nice to just immersed myself in the story. The moment I could see myself pausing, something happened that hooked me back in. 

On the other end, I guess I didn’t really like the heteronormative dynamics. There are depictions of violence against women. And graphic images of violence in general. So be aware to read these on your own terms. But I knew all that before hand.  It’s a book about an arranged marriage between a man in a woman in a religious context where they are hunting witches. Just be sure to check the trigger warnings first. And the reason for them to be married is… questionable. Even though it’s explained more later on. 

There are representations of relationships between women though. I just hope in the next book it will be explored more. 

I liked the magic as well in this world. 

I’m actually wondering how things will develop in the next book and if we will be able to see more on the side of the witches. I was honestly more interested in the political intrigue than the romance itself. Even if it was a great love story with all the tropes (guilty pleasures) that I enjoyed (the tall man that will do anything to protect his love for example). 

In all, I had a nice time reading it on my kobo in my bed with my cats on a snowy snd stormy night. It felt like I was in the world itself since it’s set in Winter. 

*about the content warnings 
These are mentioned and described. The main characters are loving and caring to each other. it’s just the world around them and what happened to them that are ugly and triggering.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Genocide, Medical content, Trafficking, War, and Classism

natescobar's review against another edition

challenging slow-paced

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

1.0

Only one POC character, it’s like reading Fanfiction, constantly mentions male leads size and looks, unnecessary sex scene, and absolutely painful to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Colonisation

ldermer's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Self harm, Violence, Vomit, and Death of parent

Moderate: Body horror

Minor: Domestic abuse and Sexual harassment