Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Not Good for Maidens by Tori Bovalino

10 reviews

vampirequeen's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Murder, Body horror, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Cannibalism, and Grief

celina246's review

adventurous dark 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

3.0

this was a hard book to rate. on one hand, i really liked the lore, and it had a little bit of everything - horror, adventure, romance, fantasy, and for a YA book (which is NOT usually my top genre), i didn't hate reading it. but i also feel like it could have been so much more and it was hard for me personally to overlook all the editorial mistakes & so many unanswered questions.

i wanted to love it and give it a 4 so badly but i just can't. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Body horror, Death, and Gore

Moderate: Grief and Kidnapping

slavic_bookworm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Grief and Cannibalism

blackthornfaery's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Grief, Physical abuse, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Body horror, Kidnapping, Medical content, and Torture

Moderate: Pregnancy

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Confinement, Cursing, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Vomit, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, and Sexual content

cozywithraven's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-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? No

3.5

I feel like the book had really good bones and an interesting premise. Some things could have been described better, a lot of passages were hard to follow. I also kind of felt like there were some threads in the beginning that didn't need to be there that were randomly brought back up in the last 3 pages that just felt random and easily forgettable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Gore, Grief, Violence, Death, and Torture

Moderate: Pregnancy

madamenovelist's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-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, Blood, Gore, Vomit, Violence, Confinement, Child death, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Alcohol, Torture, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Drug use, Death, Cursing, and Addiction

ash_ton's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

4.75

when Laura said "I'd do ANYTHING for you May" i cried. idk man 🤧

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Grief, Kidnapping, Child death, Torture, Medical content, Murder, and Physical abuse

Minor: Cannibalism, Kidnapping, and Vomit

cameronreads's review

2.0

I think it was abundantly clear that the author of this book was not Jewish. Disclaimer; neither am I, but I think it's important to talk about. As soon as I realised the goblins in this book would be evil characters alarm bells were set off in my head, and since doing some research into the tropes used, I think this book does do harm. There is of course one good goblin, but the general idea is that the goblins are evil and want to hurt people (and eat them on occasion) and have magical blood. All things that are outrageous stereotypes of Jewish people, especially considering goblins have been used as a way to represent and do harm to Jewish people. I'd really recommend looking at some Jewish reviewer's discussions on this. 

My opinions on the plot and characters of this book are rather average. I think the basic idea was there, but something about the pacing and what this book emphasised was off. I wasn't all that attached to the characters, especially because the character we're meant to be saving all through this book is never seen on page until the end. It meant the stakes didn't feel very high. To be honest, I would have read a whole book about one of the point of views (May's) if it had been expanded on and we had got to spend a bit more time with it (and there wasn't such antisemitic themes). 

I do however like the casual queer representation. The main characters are ace and bi respectively, and there's a pan side character, and all of these words are said on page. There's no prejudice against them because of their sexualities, and the main romance is a sapphic one. That was all really nice to see.

I'm really mad about this one - I loved Bovalino's other book and the other goblin market retelling I've read (In An Absent Dream, Seanan McGuire) so I really wanted to love this too. Unfortunate. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Confinement, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Grief, and Torture

Minor: Death of parent

mikaylaslibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Not Good For Maidens is the kind of book that keeps you up at night, not because of the horror, but because of the writing. 

After reading Tori Bovalino’s first novel, The Devil Makes Three, it was easy to say that it was the first horror novel that I read from start to finish. And I don’t like horror novels. Not Good For Maidens is the same thing. 

Following two main characters, Louisa in the present day and her Aunt May eighteen years earlier, it takes the classic horror poem Goblin Market to a whole new level, literally. The market starts on summer solstice and ends as summer comes to a close, trapping those who are inside for another year. It’s full of jems and fruit, treats that will trap you beneath the earth. May is a witch, or will be in a few years, so she can still enjoy the market, and she does, entering against her mother’s wishes to experience the thing that has been calling her for so long. But the goblins are ruthless this year, and May is drawn the Market Prince’s second, leaving her trapped between what she wants and what’s good for her. Louisa finds herself in the same predicament when her best friend and younger aunt Neela becomes trapped. 

It’s safe to say that I enjoyed this book. Tori Bovalino’s writing describes the horror and gore in a way that doesn’t leave pictures burning in your mind or make you sure that there’s a goblin in the shadows. Instead it takes you on the ride, and leaves you safely at the last page. 

Louisa and May, while experiencing two different markets eighteen years apart, are very similar and yet drastically different. The world of witches, goblins and York after dark bring them together, whether they like it or not. Also the casual bisexual and asexual represntation was wonderful, and it made each of their perspectives in the market interesting to compare. 

I can’t wait to purchase a finished copy of this book. Thank you to NetGalley, Page Street and the author for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Grief, Blood, Death, Vomit, Torture, and Gore