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ronjaorsomething's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Homophobia, Suicide, Animal death, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Rape, Alcoholism, Vomit, and Animal cruelty
verbosevespertine's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Animal death, Alcoholism, and Blood
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault
amyteurhour's review against another edition
lol trying to get through this gave me seasonal depression
Stopped the audiobook at 30%, Part I - Chapter 8 (4:36:09)
Graphic: Rape, Incest, Murder, Abandonment, and Domestic abuse
reverie_and_books's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This story has a huge emphasis on a lgbtq+ romance, is tinged in bits of magic and placed in a gothic/victorian setting. It’s written in gentle prose and contains some issues that prompt several content warnings. The scenes are autumnal or wintery and Collins leads the reader into them well. The story is divided into three parts and told from two points of view.
So far, so good. But I was expecting a lot less romance and a lot more political or social storylines. The ending was a bit too quick, partly too neat, partly too frayed. I did like Emmett and enjoyed the promising first part of the story. It lost me a bit later on when it got darker, but not necessarily deeper. Some of the scenic descriptions were too monotonous to me and the craft of binding had much more potential to be explored. I wished Collins had put more focus onto that, because I quite liked her prose and the setting.
If you’re looking for an atmospheric romance story (and I’d say that part is strong) this might be a good choice for you. If you’ve been eyeing this and expected romance to be just a smaller part of the plot - well, now you know it isn’t.
All that being said: I liked being in this story and turned the pages quickly. I had just hoped for a bit more of something else.
Graphic: Animal cruelty
Moderate: Homophobia and Domestic abuse
coffee_and_wool's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Sexual assault, Outing, Suicide, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Homophobia, Vomit, Domestic abuse, Rape, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Child death, Classism, Incest, and Pedophilia
oogtube's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Abortion, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, and Vomit
hawkelf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book unwinds melancholic through three parts, with the middle at the beginning, the beginning in the middle, and a POV change for the end, but I think it works. If you're fond of the backstory sections of Black Sails, you'll like this too. It takes place at the beginning of the machination of industry in England, though that has little to do with it. It's a love story, and a story about how power can be - and would be, was, and is - abused by the powerful and money hungry. It has a quiet sense of strength and preservation, and hope. It has its heavy moments, and for sure period typical homophobia, though, so check the cw.
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Classism, and Rape
Minor: Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
aimee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
There were a few big things that happened or were hinted at and then left completely unanswered, and the first 150 pages are very slow and difficult to get through.
The writing itself was pretty decent, and I think the second part of the story worked really well and was interesting. It was alright but I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend it to anyone.
Graphic: Animal death, Sexual content, Rape, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, and Suicide
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Murder
elynt2022's review against another edition
2.75
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Violence, and Suicide
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Sexual content
prettycloud's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Gaslighting, Outing, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Violence, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Blood, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Animal death
Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Rape, Alcohol, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Sexism, Kidnapping, Classism, Sexual content, Murder, and Body shaming
There are some really awful and messed-up characters in this book who have a lot of power in their classist, sexist society. The main protags make mistakes and are really angry and traumatized through a lot of this, but aren't doing any of the really awful stuff. They experience homophobia, emotional abuse/gaslighting, and physical abuse