Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Une Fenêtre sur les ténèbres by Benjamin Peylet, Rachel Gillig

47 reviews

mari1532's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• 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? It's complicated

4.5

I have been hearing about this book everywhere and was finally able to get the audiobook through my library after several weeks of having it on hold with Libby. Overall, I was not gripped by this story until the third act and then I was absolutely invested. For the first two-thirds, I was more just going with the flow learning who all the characters were and the world-building facts that Gilling was integrating into the story. 

I am a bit confused by two things throughout the story. First, Ione's whole subplot confused me. How did Ione and Elspeth grow up so close and then diverge so quickly on their paths? Elspeth was a well-constructed character and throughout her motivations were clear, but I have no idea why Ione was making the choices that she was. The game that all the characters play toward the climax of the book did make things slightly clearer, but overall she did not feel fully fleshed out. I hope that she gets a bigger subplot in the next book. 

The second thing that was confusing for me throughout the book and it is possible that I just did not understand this in the text is how many cards there are in total. There are rarer cards that are much harder to find, but some of the cards are quite ubiquitous. The cards seemed to be important for displays of power, but I'm not sure if two different decks are being constructed by the two factions or if one group is ahead in the number of cards that they have. 

I really enjoyed the romance subplot of the book. The dynamics between the characters were fun to watch develop throughout the book.

The ending of this book was absolutely shocking and gripping! I have no idea how Gillig is going to resolve all the loose ends in the next book, but I cannot wait to find out.  

Highly recommend. It starts a bit slow but the plot is worth the wait. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Sexual content and Toxic relationship

rchulin1's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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

4.0

A very interesting fantasy book different from a lot of other books I read in the genre has some gothic themes 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, War, and Classism

nightknight217's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I really enjoyed this book -- the setting and lore felt very rich and fleshed out, which allowed me to become invested not only in the characters, but in the world itself!
There were a few moments that where tropy

enemies to lovers, and drama that could have been entirely avoided if characters could just TALK TO EACHOTHER!!!

But even they felt justified for the most part.
I'm looking forward to reading the second!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Blood

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Child death, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Grief, and Death of parent

the mental illness and terminal illnesses depicted arent real-life illness but instead caused by the use of magic - characters experience degeneration, which causes mental or physical illness, includingone character hearing a voice in her head

cortanasreadingnook's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

It was my year to read The Shepherd King duology and I enjoyed every bit of it! This is a story of dark magic, revenge, and a terrifying illness brutal enough to kill. Rachel Gillig’s writing is incredible and absolutely captivating. It is very descriptive, and captures a dark atmosphere ridden with magic. She smoothly laid out the world-building and the folklore that controls this story. She tells an amazing tale of retribution, balanced with a beautiful, slowburn romance in the background (and more :D). Elspeth and Ravyn are amazing characters, and their chemistry was through the roof! The tidbits of affection that they shared in this novel was perfect. Lastly, for fans of found family, we also have a prickly brute and an ice princess roaming the pages (this is a sign telling you to read it). 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Violence, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Sexual assault

icouldbemason's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Blood, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

aidamaria_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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? No

3.5

I’m sorry to say this book/duology is overhyped. Things that annoyed me greatly were, among others, Elspeth’s entire personality (is she dumb or is she in denial - I’m not sure which is worse), the mention of the love interest’s title and eye colour the entire time (we get it, readers aren’t stupid) and the not so great writing. If you shake this book, you can hear the clichés jingling against one another.

However, I did like the eerie, gothic vibe and the magic system, and I’m delulu enough to believe the comic relief character/trustworthy sidekick will get more of the spotlight in the second instalment. Manifesting a love interest for him, because I choose to believe he’d be less insufferable if/when he falls in love.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

sirpandacat's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

kayleekat's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

A compelling read with interesting magic and imagery

This book ends on a cliffhanger

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence and Blood

Minor: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

vireogirl'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Dark and twisted story but goodness is resilient.  I appreciated that Ravyn asked for permission before he touched her. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Murder

chronic_listener's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.5

Absolutely unputdownable, laced with magic and an eerie atmosphere, One Dark Window was a delightful surprise to me. 

I loved this so much more than I thought. The tension, the plot, the pacing, the characters, the setting, the romance, the writing - I was absolutely captivated.

More things I loved:

♥ the fmc not being a complete pushover 

♥ the magic system

♥ the tree family names

♥ the action scenes

♥ the tension between Elspeth and Ravyn

♥ the Nightmare

♥ the eerie rhymes 

This really felt like a movie in my head, the narrator did such an incredible job bringing this story to life. The writing was so horrifically great that I felt queasy at times because I could just imagine someone living inside my head and feel the pain of all the injuries like it was happening to me.

I can‘t wait to see where this story goes.

One thing I noticed: Considering our fmc seemed quite bright, it took her painfully long to realize what I feel like was quite obvious to the reader from early on.

The Nightmare being the Shepherd King and slowly becoming stronger the more she asks for his help.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Bullying and Police brutality