Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Bride by Ali Hazelwood

23 reviews

sheriffrockyraccoon's review against another edition

funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

2.5

This book is definitely outside what I usually read and I found it incredibly stupid, but that’s part of its appeal. It’s a silly romance with heavy fanfic inspiration, a regular part of Hazelwood’s works. I would definitely recommend this read if you’re looking for something easy and lighthearted, there’s nothing new here but still an incredibly fun story!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Emotional abuse, Violence, Abandonment, Kidnapping, Classism, Cursing, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement and Medical content

Minor: Death, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Death of parent, and Stalking

most of these warnings are still relatively minor and refer to the b plot which comes in like the last 50 pages or so

sammymilfort's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful medium-paced

• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Kidnapping, Child death, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, and Confinement

linnybear's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted mysterious fast-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

4.0

It was my first Ali Hazelwoods’ ever and because I’m not a romance type of girlie I was so glad she introduced a fantasy theme into one of her books so I could read it myself. I went into it pretty much ‘no thoughts, head empty’ though being fully aware she’s known for her ‘gigantic men + small women’ couples and a bit of cringey dialogue. Not gonna lie, this type of approach saved my whole experience with this book. The outcome (meaning my enjoyment and final review) would be SO DIFFERENT if I decided to treat this book seriously from the beginning till the very end. 

The book itself is written in a very unserious almost satire-like manner and I enjoyed how self-aware it was.  I am used to heroines playing dumb, constantly asking the wrong questions and jumping to ‘made up from thin air’ conclusions so seeing Misery speaking her mind so openly and thinking what I was thinking was like a breath of fresh air. The writing wasn’t anything spectacular, definitely more ‘fanfiction like’ but I had an insane amount of fun reading all the banter and realistic(!) dialogues between characters (and these spicy scenes, damn). The characters fit the vibe of the book perfectly, each one of them adding some value to the main plot whether it’s for the mystery, drama or the family relationships. Basically we get the funny moments, thriller or found family bits when it feels necessary so there was no chapter where I felt it’s too  heavy to digest.  

Now to the romance itself, I definitely could feel lots of chemistry there to the point I found myself giggling and laughing out loud many times (the comedy style of the book definitely adding to that). I think Misery and Lowe worked really well together as a couple without losing their individual personalities in all the other scenes they were not seen together. The introduction of more heavy topics and conversations really helped me see them as more than just a fling but as a long term relationship that could get through all the hardships together and not break up right after the book is finished (looking at you Emily Henry). 

Overall it really felt like a palette cleanser for me,very lightweight and fast paced, perfect when you’d love to stay up all night reading fanfictions but in a standalone book form. I definitely won’t actively avoid Ali Hazelwood’s books from now on, even if they are just contemporary romances. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Violence, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Murder, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Death, War, and Medical content

zombiezami's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Stalking, Outing, Hate crime, Body horror, Kidnapping, Violence, Child abuse, Sexual content, and Medical content

Moderate: Self harm, Infertility, Grief, Cursing, Bullying, Vomit, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcohol, Pregnancy, Infidelity, War, and Car accident

goldenleafbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny mysterious sad 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? No

5.0

I could not put this book down. I absolutely adored the characters. Misery being naive to Lowe's feelings was truly believable, which is something that I feel like a lot of authors struggle to pull off. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Confinement, Blood, War, Xenophobia, Torture, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Cursing, Colonisation, Classism, Bullying, and Abandonment

Moderate: Medical content and Gaslighting

seekservetruth's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Minor: Blood and Medical content

abookwormspov's review against another edition

dark emotional lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.5

Look I'm a sucker for a

fated mates

shifter romance. Was it entirely cheesy? Yes. Was it extremely predictable? Yes. Did I enjoy every second of it? Absolutely!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Confinement, Death, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, Medical content, and Child abuse

vixenreader's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted tense medium-paced

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

3.25

It’s like if “Underworld” was a Rom-Com, with less leather and more peanut butter. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Blood, Racism, Sexual content, War, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, and Medical content

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Confinement, Animal death, Grief, Infertility, Infidelity, Murder, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, and Pregnancy

Minor: Police brutality, Alcohol, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Car accident, Kidnapping, Outing, and Racial slurs

Be aware that there is assassination attempts, allergy alerts, arranged marriages, political intrigue, and parental neglect/abuse.

amy_in_the_city's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

2.5

I really liked the premise of this book, but I feel like the execution fell short. The couple don't interact much for a good chunk of the book. I don't feel like we ever got to know much about Lowe, and I thought he was kind of boring. I wish he had some more personality and character development, but he spends much of the first part of the book avoiding Misery (the female main character). I couldn't really buy that they loved each other because it felt like they hardly knew each other.

I found Lowe's sister, Ana, to be annoying, and I thought the trouble she had with simple words seemed unrealistic for a 7 year old. It's possible the narrator's voice for Ana made a difference here as while I don't love kids in romance books, I usually don't find them this annoying. It also felt manipulative, like it was added in as a way to show that we should like Misery because she is good with this kid.

I also didn't like that Misery had been told by her friend that she doesn't care about anything except that friend. Misery growing to care for Lowe and Ana is presented as a fix to this perceived problem. It felt like it was implying that caring for your friends isn't good enough, that you also have to be a wife and mother to be a worthy and happy person. This is especially strange because I thought one of the stronger points of the book was when describing the mating bond, Lowe says that mate relationships aren't more valid or important than non-mate relationships, and it's just a different type of connection. Implying it's wrong to care so much about a friend seems to contradict that message. Also, I think characterizing Misery as only caring about this one friend is false. From the very beginning, she is putting the needs of all vampyres in front of her own wants, so clearly she cares about preventing a war. She also had a job she really liked. 

I liked that the book avoided the possessiveness that is usually present with the fated mates trope. Lowe says he just wants his mate to be happy, even if it's with someone else. There were also some little things that Lowe does that show he is listening to Misery and cares about her that I thought were really sweet. I also appreciated that there is no message that one should forgive toxic family members just because "they're family." 

The main thing that brought my enjoyment of this book way down was the unecessary and cruel third act breakup.

Literally right after sleeping with her for the first time (which was also her first time), Lowe tells Misery she means nothing to him and uses her insecurities and trauma against her in order to sell the lie. If he thought he would need to break up with her to protect her, maybe he should have done that before sleeping with her instead of hitting it and quitting it. It's also patronizing to think that she needs to be protected from making her own decisions. We don't even get a good grovel. Lowe doesn't talk to Misery for a couple weeks. She has to eventually go find him. He doesn't really apologize for hurting her, just explains why he was right to push her away. She immediately forgives him, and they decide to be together forever with no need to take any time to rebuild trust.

I just thought this was so awful of Lowe and since he didn't seem sorry, I don't believe he won't do something like this in the future. I wanted Misery to leave him and find someone who actually respects her. I shouldn't be rooting against the couple in a romance novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Confinement, Kidnapping, and Blood

Moderate: Abandonment, Gore, Medical content, and Violence

booitsbam's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Drug use, and Sexual content

Moderate: Murder and Confinement

Minor: Child abuse, Mass/school shootings, Kidnapping, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, and Medical content