Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Une Fenêtre sur les ténèbres by Benjamin Peylet, Rachel Gillig

26 reviews

thebookaddict's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

3.75

Ik vond dit boek goed. De rijmpjes in het verhaal zijn erg poeïtisch, maar dit haalde mij soms uit het verhaal. Ze zijn wel belangrijk voor het verhaal! 

Ik vond Elspeth erg interessant en leuk. Ze heeft een sterke persoonlijkheid,

maar ik vond dat ze de nachtmerrie wel snel om hulp vroeg, terwijl ze wist wat de consequenties waren

. Ravyn is ook zo leuk, hij heeft persoonlijkheid en beschermd Elspeth op een goede manier. Ik vond Ravyn een goede keuze als love interest al had ik Elm ook niet zo erg gevonden🤭. 

Het verhaal loopt goed. De spanning zit er goed in en er gebeurd precies genoeg. De vertaling is ook goed gedaan. De zinnen lopen vloeiend en het is allemaal een logisch samenhangend verhaal. Het magie systeem is simpel en wordt ook simpel uitgelegt. Je krijgt niet ineens on 1x alle informatie, maar dit wordt goed verdeeld over het boek. Ik vond het ook erg goed dat de nachtmerrie niet in 1x zijn geheimen prijs gaf. Dit gaf nog een extra laag mysterie.

Ik had alleen iets meer verwacht. Dit boek wordt enorm opgehypt en ik ging ook met die verwachtingen het verhaal in. Het verhaal is goed, maar niet spectaculair. De gebeurtenissen voelde soms wat afgeflakt aan. Ik ben wel geïntegreerd en ik ga dan ook zeker deel 2 lezen! Dit is namelijk een perfect voorbeeld van een goed neergezette "gotische" fantasy

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

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

xyln's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Physical abuse

Minor: Death of parent

rebecca_finch's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Misogyny, Violence, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Death of parent

bibliophileclerk's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

I am shook. This book started out slow, but once the story hit the first reveal it started to push along quickly. 

The magic system was a bit overwhelming to follow for me at first. I really enjoyed the colored themes for each of the cards. 

Elspeth’s journey in this book is brutal. Watching how all the characters are affected by the use of magic was a really interesting perspective. 

I need to finish processing this story and start book 2 soon.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Toxic relationship

nicole_dolly's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

Like nothing I've ever read. Unique plot. Unique character development. Original masterpiece. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

jcrawford31's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual content

shadow_cat94's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

I DEVOURED THIS BOOK!

The story was riveting, the characters are engaging, and the world building is constant. Rachel Gillig has a wonderful way with words that just made me want to cling to every sentence as I turned through the pages.

Character development isn't really a thing that happens in this book it's more about character revelations as we get to see the people behind their masks - their real motivations rather than the MC's preconceptions. However, this approach makes it feel like it's the Nightmare's story and Elspeth is the POV character as she is the only constant character that does not change while we follow her around. It's interesting and different.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship