Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Witch King by H.E. Edgmon

22 reviews

mythian's review against another edition

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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Death of parent and Child abuse

Minor: Abandonment and Deadnaming

brianneh's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

3.0

I really liked the beginning of this book, but I thought it got a little bogged down and flat in the middle. I wasn’t quite sure what the goal was at certain points and felt like the plot meandered a bit.

I loved that there was so much good representation and diversity in The Witch King. I really enjoyed several of the characters we are introduced to, my favorites being Briar and Jin. I wish we’d had more of Jin overall! I’d also love to hear more from Briar’s side of things, I think it would be really interesting.

At first, I really found myself drawn to the main character Wyatt and his story. One of my favorite lines of his in the early pages of the book was:

“Gender is weird. The rules are all made up and people should just do whatever they want”

But as the book went on I found Wyatt to be a bit annoying at times. The book is told through first person point of view, which I think contributed to the meandering I mentioned, as a lot of time was spent on Wyatt thinking about things, then not really communicating those thoughts to people in a conducive way. Throughout the book, Wyatt comes up these schemes which he doesn’t really seem to think through, then never really has to face any real consequences to many of his actions. This way of thinking and acting may be true to course for some teenagers, but it’s not the most compelling thing to read. 

There were also quite a few mentions about pregnancy, specifically unwanted and/or forced, which wasn’t marked in the content warnings here on StoryGraph. 

Overall, I know a lot of people love this book, and while it wasn’t one of my favorites, I can see why others enjoyed it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Transphobia, Violence, Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Sexism, Pregnancy, and Deadnaming

Minor: Abandonment

carolined314's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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

3.0

Glad to have a transman star who was not at all interchangeable for a cis one, in a detailed fantasy setting. A bit challenging by how much trauma was worked in, in what seemed like a romance-type book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, and Abandonment

Moderate: Death of parent, Physical abuse, Grief, Toxic friendship, Death, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Gore, Police brutality, Stalking, Murder, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Child abuse, Classism, Transphobia, Bullying, and Deportation

theblerdnewsletter's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

2.0

This book is terrible. Reading AAVE by a non-Black author in 2022 is completely ridiculous. Are you serious? Ugh. Wyatt’s internal voice is annoying and repetitive. There’s not any significant character development (or real plot development, just lots of teenage angst) and it’s creepy reading about

literal teenagers having sex

. I just skipped that part. I think the

Fae being from another planet is a really cool idea but the execution was abysmal

. Also we’re not going to address Briar & Wyatt’s super toxic relationship? Or the fact that Wyatt needs a lot of therapy. I am sad

Wyatt and Emyr kind of don’t end up together

but also it’s probably a good idea because their relationship is also super toxic. Y’all love each other. Come on. 10/10 wouldn’t recommend. I want my 12 hours back.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Classism, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

urlocalhethey's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death, Deadnaming, Transphobia, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Outing, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, War, Abandonment, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, and Suicide attempt

criticalbooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Violence, Abandonment, Deadnaming, Death, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Pregnancy, Body shaming, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder

uranaishi's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Bullying

Moderate: Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Deadnaming, Cursing, Drug use, Infertility, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Child abuse, Xenophobia, Genocide, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Blood, Grief, Miscarriage, and War

midnightgremlin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Bullying, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Transphobia, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail

princess_peach's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

2.5

This book might be better to read once all three books are published. It's a first-person character book, so everything we know is based on what the main character, Wyatt knows. Wyatt, however, is a witch who was forbidden from learning about his powers and left Asalin, a fae kingdom for the human world. Wyatt is found and brought back to Asalin by his fae prince fiancee, Emyr. As Wyatt learns (or actively resists learning) about Asalin, fae and witch craft, so does the reader. I personally found that very frustrating. I'm hoping that once all three books are out, it will be less frustrating for me to read and I'll enjoy it more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Dysphoria, Grief, Racism, and Transphobia

Moderate: Abandonment, Bullying, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

mollivz's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Police brutality, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

lgbtq+