Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

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

8 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

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

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

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

ziaxx's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.5

I think I'm in love with the fmc. Must be her "i-don't-give-a-fuck" attitude toward everything. As for the mmc, he's sweet but aside from that i don't see no personality.

The plot is good but it's kinda confusing for me. There's no time reference and not much detail about the world. I don't even know the mmc's age.. lol.

Either way, I enjoyed reading it. The ending wasn't satisfactory nor was the 3rd part of the book but anyway. I'm rating this book on fmc alone. 

It's been a very long time since I've found a fmc with a spine and a impressive mouth( not like that). 

I don't know if I'll continue the series. I've got what I wanted and I can kinda see where the story's going so imma put in down for now. Reason is the YA writing style. The writing is beautiful and engaging, no doubt, but I still kinda not completely connect with it.

The story is good and I think those who enjoy YA will really like it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infidelity and Sexual content

prof_pelon's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

veganecurrywurst's review against another edition

adventurous funny 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

3.25

I did like the relationship that was developing between the two main characters, although it felt at some points uncomfortably toxic. I absolutely hated the ending and the storyline between Lou her mother and the other witches. I think I'm not going to continue reading the series's due to this. The POC representation was laughable. But I would recommend reading this book if the themes generally interested you, because you might actually enjoy it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Religious bigotry

jasirepe's review against another edition

funny relaxing slow-paced

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

4.0

just kind of weird to have a fictional book but the real catholic church in it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent