Reviews tagging 'Violence'

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

115 reviews

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

librosdeunamestiza'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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault, Torture, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Vomit

kaykaylala's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

eugemrq's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Death

greeeer_e_rutt's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, War, and Classism

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

ghoulsrfools's review against another edition

challenging tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Sexual content, Blood, and Medical content

Minor: Misogyny and Stalking

brothels/prostitution (minor)

saskiahill's review against another edition

medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Blood

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Death, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Pregnancy

corabookworm's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.5

Fun YA fantasy, bit of a classic romance with *alllll* the tropes but I enjoyed rereading it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Death, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, Murder, and War

Minor: Confinement, Cursing, Misogyny, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

galdra's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I enjoyed it. The author is good at creating twists and keeping the reader's attention; I really struggled to put my book down! The male protagonist/love interest kind of subverted the stereotype for the YA romantasy genre, but I couldn't say the same for the female protagonist. If you like Sarah J. Maas, you'll probably be a fan of this book. 

The romance could have been paced a bit slower, but that's only my preference. It still took a while to develop compared to other books. And they had a very good dynamic together. The plot, stakes, and their own arcs wove well into their love story for a satisfying and captivating journey from beginning to completion. 

If you're after a fun read with a mix of romance, drama, magic, and adventure, then this is right for you.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Child death, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, and War

bookowl805's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful tense medium-paced

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

3.5

It was probably the first fantasy i ready. I enjoyed It.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol