Reviews with content warning for Cannibalism - A Soul to Keep

Reviews tagging 'Cannibalism'

chanlo1994's review against another edition

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dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Excellent voice acting in this version

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gaymoonreader's review

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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slytheringsnake's review

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.25

The world building was given to us in such a ham fisted way, it seemed like the main character was constantly being spoon fed information that could have been given another way. The writing was like that of a wattpad fic, with so many exclamation points and weird stilted dialogue.

The main character was constantly being described as “petite” and “not like others” which was okay the first few times, but the author would constantly mention it and compare her to others. It got exhausting after a bit.
There’s also so many inconsistencies with the way the characters spoke and with the world building itself. There had been no human advancements for 300 years but this human knows the word for precum? She also somehow knows that it can get her pregnant? But she doesn’t know why she bleeds every month. It was jarring because at first I fully thought it was set in the 1600s and then the main character thinks something like the words “yep” or “ok” or “oh shit!” And suddenly the timeline is wonky and I have no idea what year it is.

I tend to love monster fucker books where there is an actual monster, not a humanoid man, so I was really excited for this book as it seemed right up my alley. I just could not get past the writing for this one. The story itself wasn’t bad, and it’s what helped me get to the end, but this was very much a book I had to grit my teeth with and continue reading. I’m not sure if I’ll read the rest of the series quite yet, maybe I’ll pick up the second book after a bit of a break.

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smokingintherain's review

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adventurous medium-paced

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

3.25

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mbolde8's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful tense 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

5.0

Loved this book and story line. It was almost like a beauty and the beast as the main character fell in love with a “monster” but even though he was deemed as a monster he was so caring a sweet. I loved the character development and the overall plot of the story.

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jbaker8's review

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mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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wizardesquelesbian's review

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

2.0

we need to have a serious talk about the antagonists and their motivations (major spoilers below the cut)

sooooo WHAT was up with our antagonists depiction??? specifically the queen (can't remember her name so I'll just refer to her as that)

the issue of consent and the way the queen's lived experiences are dismissed and downplayed by our FL is genuinely very icky to me!! it's a complicated situation, because orpheus didn't seem to understand that his first GF was under durress when he was with her, HOWEVER implied or coerced consent is NOT consent, full stop. the queen thought her life was in genuine danger and was doing what she thought she had to in order to survive, and even if our FL has an alternative perspective of orpheus, it is an understanding that the queen absolutely did not have. orpheus seemingly didn't fully understand the power he had over her, BUT that does NOT excuse his behavior or actions. reia's victim-blamey relief when she realizes that the queen 'made her own hell' (to paraphrase) was so fucking gross to me and genuinely put me off of a book that I otherwise fucking adored.

I cannot stress enough how terrifying all of that would have to have been for the queen. her perspective is realistic and heart wrenching and for her POV to be so summarily dismissed put me off big time. the inherent power imbalance between orpheus and his companions is one that is not given the gravity that it would realistically have, and while I could have let that slide under normal circumstances, the author themself drags it into the story kicking and screaming. I was prepared to suspend my disbelief, but the author made it my problem so here we are.

If it weren't for this, the book would have been a 5 star read for me!! I loved the relationship between our two mains and even if reia got on my nerves occasionally, I thought the two had a cute dynamic and I appreciated how visceral the story made itself at times, with a good combo of eroticism and horror-esque elements. I liked that orpheus was a big ol scary monster! I loved that reia didn't need to try and change him! I like that, by the end of the book, the two are on equal footing! there is a lot to love here! but the way the antagonist's motivation was handled put the whole book in a tailspin retrospectively and even now, as I write about the good elements of reia and orpheus' relationship, I can't help but compare it to how the queen must have felt in her own time with orpheus. it just puts such a gross taste in my mouth and I feel like it was so very poorly handled - personally I think it was an unnecessary inclusion, but if the author was dead-set on including it I wish it had been handled much better.

I don't want to dislike this book, and I don't think I really 100% could, but I advise any future readers to proceed with caution, especially if having victims of what could (generously) be called "dubious" consent shit on in-narrative is a potential trigger.

Believe survivors, understand consent, and take care of yourselves!

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