Reviews tagging 'Grief'

A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows

24 reviews

jessiereads98's review

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

2.75

This book has potential it just doesn’t live up to. I really enjoyed the romance between the two main characters as well as the characters themselves. Velasin’s journey of acceptance and healing is also well handled and realistic. However, I went into this book expecting politics to play a much bigger role than they did. This book is more of a mystery than a political fantasy. I was disappointed that magic didn’t play a bigger role throughout the book as well. There were also times where the prose and dialogue felt clunky, awkward, and out of place. The occasional lecture-like dialogue from Velasin just seemed out of place with the style of the rest of the dialogue and came across as the author spoon feeding us her point. I found myself getting bored in parts and think this could’ve been shorter. There was a lot of mentions of the moons and religion which didn’t really go anywhere, along with mentions of Velasin’s siblings which served little to no point. I wish we had heard more about Riya and Laecia or other present side characters which would’ve been more relevant to the story. I personally also found the ending disappointing. Unsure if I will pick up the sequel to continue with the characters and romance and see if the promise of politics develops more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Murder, Rape, Suicide attempt, Blood, Death, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Confinement

Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Grief, Misogyny, Sexual content, Transphobia, Abandonment, Alcohol, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Miscarriage, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

abarnakwn_ourcolourfulpages's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Body horror, Chronic illness, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Blood, Confinement, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Deportation, Animal death, Cursing, Death of parent, Homophobia, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Misogyny

eenicem's review

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Sexual content, Animal death, Blood, Outing, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Grief, Homophobia, Murder, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Vomit, Transphobia, and Ableism

zikin's review

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

I did not know the plot or summary going into my read but I absolutely adored this book! This story is romantic, suspenseful, heartbreaking, and inspiring. I loved the two main characters, Velasin and Caethari. Both characters had distinct voices and reading from each of their perspectives was a joy. The side characters were well fleshed out and added yet another layer of loveliness to the story. The romance in this is slow-burn and endearing. The pace, to me, was just right and I enjoyed how the mystery element unfolded. There are some scenes that are unpleasant, so please read the content warnings. However, I highly recommend this book. I cannot wait until the sequel comes out and I can spend time with these lovely (albeit fictional) people once again!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death of parent, Rape, Physical abuse, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Self harm

Moderate: Animal death, Grief, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury

20sidedbi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.75

Lovely, imaginative book about QPOC fantasy romance with great mutism and sign language representation, but BE SURE TO CHECK TRIGGER WARNINGS. The subjects are handled well, but they are handled explicitly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Suicide attempt, Ableism, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Murder, Stalking, Outing, Sexual assault, Rape, and Self harm

Moderate: Classism, Violence, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Emotional abuse, Blood, Torture, Sexism, Animal death, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, and Infidelity

There is ultimately healing in this story, but the author doesn't flinch away from full descriptions of all the traumatic events.

vibrantcolours's review

emotional

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

Longer review later? I found this super readable but not 100% sure how much I liked it.

Tl;dr topically quite similar to Winter's Orbit and A Taste of Gold and Iron: queer arranged marriage/political intrigue/SFF setting/overcoming trauma etc., though I would recommend those two books first. 

Spiritually, it's similar to angst & hurt/comfort fanfic, maybe even a little too on-the-nose.

I get that the suffering and growth is very much inherent to the character arc here, e.g. the somewhat intense trauma in like chapter 2, but by the time we got to animal death several traumas and crying jags later, it registered a bit as emotionally manipulative ("make the MC feel even worse") to me... again, though I realize that emotions are very much part of the point here.

I thought the writing was generally strong but it didn't always read as fully authentic? Still putting a finger on it; maybe it was some of the banter

("sorry, I'm being Ralian again, aren't I?" was vaguely endearing the first time, but grating to me by, like, the fifth)

or relationship, or maybe it's more the plot.

If you tend to avoid certain triggers, look up the content warnings for this one first

(most notably SA)

; these topics come up quite early and are not subtle.

On the positive side, I particularly liked Velasin and that his intelligence was given space to shine (and we didn't only see him suffering/trying to recover), as well as the language/cultural elements, particularly sign language & Vel's friendship with Markel. While I liked Kae, it seemed his defining traits were "kind" and "attractive"; I really felt Vel got more character development and also thought it was unusual that only one of the two multi-POV characters got first-person narration.

Tagging mlm for obvious reasons. Also, enby and trans side characters; similar to the other two books, the queer-normative society recognizes a "third"/non-binary gender with established linguistics (incl. neopronouns) and clothing conventions.

<i>LOL at the length of my tl;dr</i>

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence and Sexual assault

Moderate: Grief, Homophobia, and Animal death

lh_reads's review

adventurous emotional 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

5.0

This book is why I love queer high fantasy so much. Watching Caethari and Velasin relationship develop warmed my heart. Also I came for the queer high fantasy but stayed for the political intrigue and mystery. I also loved how Velasin Truman’s was written and how he reacted and grew. As someone also having a similar experience it really hit home but I loved it all and all

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Blood, Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, Rape, and Homophobia

Moderate: Infertility

booksthatburn's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

A STRANGE AND STUBBORN ENDURANCE is one of my favorite things I’ve read all year, in a year where I’ve already read more than two hundred books. It might be my favorite arranged/political marriage book, if it’s not the winner it’s at least in good company. It’s instantly achieved the rank of my favorite fantasy book dealing with rape (a strange category to have, but as I make a podcast dealing with fictional depictions of trauma, an almost necessary category to be aware of).  If you’re uncomfortable with that content, please choose another book, with my best wishes, as this deals with the actual event and long aftermath of a (graphic but brief) sexual assault by someone who until very recently was the victim’s romantic partner. 

There are two major countries, one of which is barely shown but heavily felt (Ralia), and the other is where almost all of the story takes place (Tithena). That means the reader's main understanding of Ralia is through Velasin's recollections and Tithenai gossip. The story's focus on Velasin's arranged marriage to a man, combined with Ralian homophobia, means that most descriptions of Ralia are unflattering, focusing on much that Velasin was unable to freely do in his former country. Most of the story is set in Tithena, in or around Caethari's home (now Velasin's new home). This allows the opportunity for both the official Tithenian line and the reality to appear side by side in a way that doesn't happen for Ralia. It makes it clear that even though Tithena is more egalitarian in many respects, 

Velasin and his soon-to-be husband, Caethari, are the two narrators. I love Velasin and Caethari, both separately and together. However, unlike most books with dual narrators, this gives each narrator several chapters in a row before switching to the other. This helps with immersion into each man's perspective, and means that in this emotionally fraught story based on a colossal and nearly catastrophic misunderstanding, the reader doesn't get an immediate narrative resolution merely by switching to the other person. They're very different people, something which really gets to shine when Velasin gets more comfortable and begins turning his people skills and political mind to the mystery at hand.

We meet Velasin on the road, almost immediately reaching his father's home after fleeing his unfaithful partner (and accompanied by Markel, his servant and friend). Upon his arrival he's notified by his father of his impending arranged marriage to a Tithenai woman. Moments later his former partner arrives, having pursued him, then assaults him. After his father and the Tithenai envoy walk in on them (not understand that it was rape), the envoy offers him a marriage to a man instead. He accepts with as little consent as was involved in the former arrangement, and then travels to Tithena, where the rest of the plot unfolds. 

Markel is Velasin's servant and best friend. He's mute, using signs, writing, and other non-verbal signals to communicate with Velasin (and anyone else who'll learn). I like Markel, and he gets a lot of space in Velasin's thoughts, but not quite as much in the actual narrative (as he spends much of it recovering from a very serious injury). He's very important to the story, playing much more of a role before he's attacked and after he's mostly recovered. 

Caethari wasn't expecting to be the one getting married, since Ralia's endemic homophobia is well-known in Tithena. Tithenia as a country is so casually queer that saying it's more accepting of queerness than Ralia does a disservice in the comparison. It is not, however, free of other problems. Before Caethari can greet Velasin, the incoming party is attacked and their introduction is made under rather stressful circumstances.

The rest of the plot weaves together a series of strange and possibly politically-motivated attacks, investigations of the same, Velasin's internal struggles, Caethari's attempts to help, and many long conversations about cultural differences which range from extremely serious to mere curiosities. There's also the lingering threat that Velasin's attacker might pursue him further, a (not unfounded) worry which complicates his recovery. I was a bit overwhelmed by the sheer number of characters, but I'm generally terrible with names and was still able to track most of what was happening. Much of the narrative is structured like a mystery, where they're trying to figure out the person or group behind the attacks and don't know who they can trust. This is interwoven with Velasin and Caethari getting to know each other, and Velasin's introductions to Caethari's family and a few other important persons. 

Read this for a kind of mystery story, full of political machinations, focused on recovery from trauma in a situation where bad things are still happening.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Sexual content, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Violence, Homophobia, Vomit, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Animal death, Self harm, Rape, and Murder

Moderate: Gore, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Kidnapping, Confinement, Medical trauma, Xenophobia, Ableism, and Infidelity

Minor: Pregnancy, Bullying, Torture, Alcohol, Transphobia, Miscarriage, Child abuse, and Alcoholism

jmross10's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

A Strange and Stubborn Endurance is told in both first (Vel) and second (Cae) person, swapping between the perspectives of the two man characters - Velasin and Caethari. Both of them are highborn men in a pseudo-medieval setting who are fairly educated, which is reflected in the writing style. This is especially apparent in Velasin's sections. The sentence structure and wording takes time to adjust too and may not work for some readers. It's important to note though, this a clear and deliberate choice by the author, not just bad writing. The style makes sense for the character even if it's a bit disorienting.

The novel as a whole takes place over a relatively short period of time and a lot happens within its pages. While I wish there were points where things slowed down and there was time to digest, I didn't think it was too over the top, and the progression of events made sense. I appreciated that the main characters were given a chance to somewhat (again, very short timeframe) organically find their way to each other instead of instalove. We get to enjoy those almost moments instead of diving in head first.

I thought motive behind the unravelling events was very interesting and I liked the way it played out. I also appreciated that there were real consequences for character's actions, which we don't always see.

I know that one major deterrent for some readers will be the r*pe scene early on. Reviews I've seen call it "extremely graphic" and make it seem very excessive, but I disagree with that.

It does play out on the page, but the emphasis is more specifically on the coercion of the main character and their feeling of helplessness at the hands of somebody they trusted. It talks about the conflicting signals between their body and their mind, as well as the humiliation of their body's reaction in the moment.

This is not something that happens just for a throwaway plot point to add drama. There is a genuine motivating factor and the character effected spends the rest of the book dealing with the trauma from it.

I would never advocate for someone to read something that makes them triggered or uncomfortable but I think it's important to shed light on the author's representation of the act, instead of immediately assuming the worst because of what it is. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Animal death, and Blood

Moderate: Sexual assault, Transphobia, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Homophobia, Classism, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Self harm, Body horror, Gaslighting, Grief, and Rape

Minor: Infidelity

bookcaptivated's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Murder, Animal death, Gore, Sexual content, Homophobia, Blood, Violence, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Vomit, Confinement, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Outing

Minor: Abandonment, Medical content, Transphobia, Ableism, Infidelity, and Self harm