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acesolaris's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Gaslighting, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Self harm
theintrovertsbooks's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Self harm, Violence, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Medical content, and Kidnapping
Minor: Murder, Sexual content, Gore, Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, and Torture
eni_se's review against another edition
3.0
TW: finger mutilation
Wtf, Fawcett, this was supposed to be a feel-good, whimsical book with low stakes! And the finger being violently and unexpectedly cut off was really not even necessary for the plot! It happened for the stupidest reason. Literally not much would have changed.
This leads me to another issue I had with this book: the protagonist is very mousy and bland. While I love an academic or scientist protagonist, Emily Wilde was honestly as bland as UK food. Fitting, as she is British. The love interest Bamleby was much more engaging. It doesn't help that we get the story from her journal entries, and she writes as blandly as you would expect for someone with the personality of a filing cabinet the size of a mouse. It's not like she's cute in her reactions, or even relatable or understandable; she's not weird enough, or autistic enough, or anything that justifies her as the protagonist. She shines the best when she's interacting with faeries, as it's her area of expertise, or well... until she also makes amateur decisions that put the entire village at risk.
Speaking of, she wins over the people pretty quickly from one chapter to the next for someone who managed to antagonize the entire village in the first hours after arriving to the island where she's set to do some research.
While I thoroughly enjoyed this book (up until that traumatic amputation happened out of nowhere), I was also left warning much more from the romance. I was expecting either a little spice in the veins of [b:The Cruel Prince|26032825|The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air, #1)|Holly Black|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1574535986l/26032825._SY75_.jpg|45959123] - Folk of the Air trilogy, or more swoony, sweet romantic moments. And I got neither. While the banter between the main character and the love interest is really good, they didn't connect deeply enough for me. hey rarely talked about deeper topics, about themselves outside of what we already knew from the get-go; they rarely touched softly, or had heated interactions charged with sexual tension. Nothing.
Honestly, Bambleby was a much more engaging character. I wish we'd gotten the book from his perspective. I love his attitude, friendliness and that he's an excellent tailor. I was half expecting the love interest to be a local from the island, but the sorry we got for him was good as well. Though I can't help feeling like the setting for this story was very interchangeable, there was nothing about the setting being a cold Nordic island that truly affected me much. It could have been set in a tropical town too and it would have been pretty much the same story. So the setting wasn't that well integrated into the story.
The writing is pretty good, some of the scenes had really cool imagery (the frozen lake market, the old white cursed tree) but I wish it was far more atmospheric. It would have helped a lot to elevate this story. The story overall is engaging, fast-paced, but sprinkled with a lot of awkwardness.
I do love me a black shadow puppy. He was the best of the story. And the little forest ice faerie who loves a good fashionable cape is also precious.
I am half tempted to read the second book because of Bambleby, but I'm also thinking I would rather read something else.
Graphic: Self harm, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Blood
The main character self-amputates a finger with an axe.mattyroh07's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Self harm
Minor: Sexism and Kidnapping
beccam22'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? No
5.0
Minor: Self harm
There is a scene when the main character cuts off her own finger with an axe but it is brief.lucystolethesky's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Self harm, Blood, and Confinement
ourhandsfull's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Self harm and Injury/Injury detail
prettynerdy3's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Self harm, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Violence, Animal death, and Vomit
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
axel_p's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Minor: Death, Classism, Confinement, Self harm, Blood, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
ineedsomecyanide's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Self harm
Moderate: Violence