Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Gothikana by RuNyx

24 reviews

wii3rdo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

the way my body and mind reacted to the paranoid, suspenseful, and tense moments in this book needs to be STUDIED! it doesn’t help that i finished reading the last 40% after midnight when my house was dead silent and dark...but we’ll gloss over that detail for now 😅

this book exceeded my expectations for how much i’d love it. if the exterior didn’t do it for me, the descriptions and the way the author made me feel exactly what the characters felt, THAT DID IT! 🙂‍↕️ everything was so vivid i felt like i could see exactly what they wanted me to see down to the specks of dust in the library. Y’ALL AS CREEPY AS VERENMORE IS, I FUCKING LOVE IT!

i will say that i have a few unanswered questions and i explained the entire book to my friend on the phone the night after i finished, and not only does he want to read it, but he has the same questions i do.

i was suspicious of everyone EXCEPT who i needed to be suspicious of. even anticipating a twist, i NEVER would’ve guessed the story’s outcome. when i tell you i flipped this book closed and looked around so many times, i felt like i was being watched 😭 as good as it was, i will say, the first half of the book felt like a drag. with how detailed everything was, in some places, it felt like there was too much emphasis on the scenery and otherwise minor details. the book was hard to put down, but in some places it made me question “is this relevant?” but i still loved it!

and i’ll say this and be done: PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF SANITY, LET THERE BE A CONTINUATION OF THIS STORY BECAUSE I HAVE SOME MAJOR QUESTIONS THAT I FEEL LIKE ONLY ANOTHER STORY COULD ANSWER 😭

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Dementia, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Suicide, and Torture

brianna_soto's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

Characters lacked depth, simple writing, plot was good enough to keep reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual content

Moderate: Dementia and Grief

Minor: Death of parent and Fire/Fire injury

marinajonesreads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

I got through it. Solid 2. The writing was at time pedantic and the plot lacked a lot of substance. I think we I saw “gothic romance” I was thinking along the lines of Adalyn Grace’s “Foxglove” — a slow burn, out of time, dark romance. This was dark. I will give it that. I would strongly advise one check the content warnings before reading. But the ending just lacked so much. It kind of was just there. I felt like we’d been building to something supernatural or even just unexpected. But we instead get a Scooby Do-esq storyline. And I was still left with so many questions. And not in a fun way. This felt, at times, like one big spicy book with words around it in the vague wispy form of a plot. Ironic, I know. Would I recommend? Probably not.

But I will say, the cover, binding and sprayed purple edges are beautiful. The purple and black is such a solid choice. Love the Verenmore gold foil. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Kidnapping, Stalking, Suicide, Grief, Terminal illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Stalking, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent, Incest, Blood, and Bullying

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

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

raequigley's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Suicide, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Death, Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Abortion, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Child death, Toxic friendship, and Panic attacks/disorders

xapoptosisx's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-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

4.75

This book is something else in a good way, it was creepy but I loved it. I definitely need more books set in this world. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cursing, Sexual content, Murder, Suicide, Death, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Dementia, Grief, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Pregnancy and Incest

bonez_x's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, and Grief

Minor: Suicide, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, and Suicidal thoughts

lindsayhwrites's review against another edition

medium-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

2.0

Clearly never saw an editor, was wrapped in pretty packaging but full of plot holes while also not having much of a plot. Very disappointing. Particularly the negative implications and claims about mental illness.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Vomit, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Ableism, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Suicide, Toxic friendship, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Incest