Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Gothikana by RuNyx

147 reviews

boopdbun's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Blood, Death, Violence, Murder, and Suicide

dragonwriter's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

Corvina Clem’s father died when she was a baby, leaving her schizophrenic mother to raise her on her own. At the age of 21, Corvina is offered a scholarship to Verenmore, a college based in a castle on top of the mountain--a castle with a dark history. Unperturbed by the stories, Corvina enrolls in the academy, curious to experience a life outside of the homeschooling and isolation her mother kept her. She’s almost instantly enthralled by Vad Deverall, a teacher working on his thesis. Though she’s warned by multiple people that student/teacher relations are against the rules, Corvina and Vad are drawn to each other, his inescapable tormenter, and her madness. But life isn’t all secret trysts in woods, in the classroom, or in the car. Every five years, someone goes missing, and there’s a dark secret lurking in the woods. If Corvina and Vad don’t discover the truth before the Ink Moon, someone could get hurt. 

 

Verenmore gave me “Nevermore Academy” vibes from Netflix’s Wednesday--which makes sense, since it’s an anagram of the name. It amused me how genre-savvy of a character Corvina was, how she was so attuned to romance novels that she was able to translate what was happening to her to them. It was always clear that she was into the dominant vibe Vad was giving, so it was hence clear that everything was consensual. Considering the student/teacher trope (21F/28M), it surprised me how long it took for them to do it in the classroom--and then it bugged me a little that the author decided to skip over THAT particular scene after being graphic in all the other places. The writing style was basic, but the characters filled their roles and the story did its job. I thought the ambiguous solution for Corvina’s mental state was fun, and I enjoyed the final confrontation on the tower. I did NOT guess the murderer, which was a fun surprise. Overall, I enjoyed it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Sexual content

Moderate: Mental illness and Death of parent

aprilyang1's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Mental illness, Suicide, and Death

carolynnjeann's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, and Gore

ksheetz713's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

What I read in the description vs what read I read in the book, I think I was looking for more.  
I'm really struggling with this review.  Maybe my expectations are aimed incorrectly?  I was expecting a dark romance, mystery and intrigue all set in gothic academia.  
What I got was Nevermore academy and Wednesday Addams dating a teacher.  The book read very much like a young adult novel, I'm not an English expert but it felt like the words were "dumbed down" so to speak.  But it absolutely is not a young adult novel with the heavy spice scenes and on the page suicide.  The mystery just wasn't built up for me. It was easily guessed in the beginning and the "loose ends" that got conveniently "tied up" in the epilogue felt lazy.  
I wanted to love this book, but it fell flat for me.  I think I expected so much more because I've read the author's other work and know what RuNyx is capable of. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

imarvelous's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

1.5

This is definitely giving “try hard emo” vibes. Leaves much to be desired in the form of plot & character. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Sexual content, and Mental illness

Minor: Murder, Grief, Death of parent, Blood, Dementia, Death, and Forced institutionalization

labxtch's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.5

This book had me SPIRALING. I honestly did not know where this was going to go or how this was going to end, and didn’t until I got to the very end.

The way Corvina feels throughout the book is so incredibly relatable, and the style in which the author transcribes perfectly just how Corvina feels.. The words are utterly breathtaking at times. I have so many quotes saved that just hit close to home and were so dark & beautifully said.

‘Gothikana’ reminded me why “books-that-make-you-think” are my absolute freaking favorite. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Gore, Mental illness, Blood, and Body horror

Moderate: Chronic illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Blood, Murder, Cursing, Death, Dementia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Death of parent, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Emotional abuse, and Kidnapping

sassy_alchemist's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.25

Struggling with rating this one because I think the concept and plot are very good but weren't fully developed / got lost in the TERRIBLE editing and the smut. Story gives off a darker more mature version od Wednesday vibe so I had high hopes. Seriously question if this book was edited at all. One page she calls them cookies the next page it's biscuits. Characters are introduced twice with contradicting statements first their seniors then 100 pages later they're "sophomores in their second year" which is not only contradictory but why do we need a definition of sophomore?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Murder

mae_dexter_author's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, and Mental illness

Minor: Blood, Terminal illness, Stalking, Grief, Gaslighting, Death, Dementia, and Death of parent

nirellis's review

dark mysterious tense

4.75

Dark adult Wednesday boarding school energy

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Death