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booksthatburn's review
emotional
reflective
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
CAROLINE'S HEART is a story of grief, love, and connection between a witch and a cowboy. Cecily has been trying to magically call her deceased lover's soul to bring her back to life. Roy is a cowboy who figured out too late that he dislikes his job. He meets Cecily when she comes to the ranch, and he’s fascinated by her and her magic. When Roy gets injured while protecting Cecily, she saves his life and he recuperates at her home. As they spend time together, the bond between them grows until, eventually, Cecily is faced with a choice between the ghost in her past and a chance at the future.
The story has such an intimate focus, only lightly involving anyone besides Roy and Cecily. Even though half of the story is from Cecily’s perspective, she’s so focused on trying to bring back Caroline, her deceased lover, that most details of her thoughts and history only are shown when she opens up to Roy.
The world building is consistent without trying to be particularly dense, which works very well for such a brief story. It takes advantage of a well-trod setting in the historical American west to do a lot of the heavy lifting, focusing more on the relationships between the characters and how Cecily uses her magic. Roy and Cecily have been navigating different kinds of prejudices, but their bond is more about how they connect to each other than whatever difficulties they have in relating to other people.
Things I love, in no particular order: The relationship between Roy and Cecily, the way Roy takes it on himself to make Cecily's life better even though she's capable of surviving, how much space there is for Cecily's grief and healing.
The story has such an intimate focus, only lightly involving anyone besides Roy and Cecily. Even though half of the story is from Cecily’s perspective, she’s so focused on trying to bring back Caroline, her deceased lover, that most details of her thoughts and history only are shown when she opens up to Roy.
The world building is consistent without trying to be particularly dense, which works very well for such a brief story. It takes advantage of a well-trod setting in the historical American west to do a lot of the heavy lifting, focusing more on the relationships between the characters and how Cecily uses her magic. Roy and Cecily have been navigating different kinds of prejudices, but their bond is more about how they connect to each other than whatever difficulties they have in relating to other people.
Things I love, in no particular order: The relationship between Roy and Cecily, the way Roy takes it on himself to make Cecily's life better even though she's capable of surviving, how much space there is for Cecily's grief and healing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Alcohol, Homophobia, Bullying, Blood, Cursing, Sexual content, Death, Xenophobia, Violence, Gun violence, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Pregnancy, Racism, Excrement, and Miscarriage
cronasbookshelf's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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? No
4.75
such a heartwarming queer story♡ i wish it was a little longer but i do think the author made a great job developing roy and cecily's relationship even though its a short book. as a transmasc-enby i think roy's portrayal as a person and also as a love interest is so refreshing and amazing, he's such a nice person, even when he feels unsafe because of the men he's surrounded with at work, he's bright and admirable, and i just adore how caring he is towards cecily!! being completely honest, i didn't really think the last scenes were necessary, because the author already established that they do see each other as love interests and care deeply about each other. though, i must say, its also very refreshing to read a sex scene were trans people are comfortable in their bodies without being invalidated because of it !! i enjoyed the way the author portrayed their sexual intimacy :) . overall, a great quick read, my queer heart is full and happy
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Sexual content and Death
invaderday's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
4.75
wish this was longer!!! i wanted to explore the magic system a bit more, i really liked the imagery of magic threads and frames used as looms.
absolutely loved the premise. cowboy gets mixed up with a witch, and it's all very trans and a bit romantic :) and the whole thing with caroline's heart was such an interesting bit of story, i just really really enjoyed it. great little novella! easily could have read more
absolutely loved the premise. cowboy gets mixed up with a witch, and it's all very trans and a bit romantic :) and the whole thing with caroline's heart was such an interesting bit of story, i just really really enjoyed it. great little novella! easily could have read more
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content and Gun violence
Minor: Death, Medical content, and Grief
bebidocrimes's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
fast-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? It's complicated
3.25
I really loved Roy and the magic system was so personal and fascinating, I want to dig into that more, especially at the climax. It just felt like I wanted more, I wanted it to be longer and dive a little deeper into developing Cecily. She seemed so distracted by her end goal I didn't get a good feel for who she really is.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, and Violence
kittycuthbert's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Gun violence
helen's review against another edition
4.0
Melancholy and sweet historical fantasy romance between a grief-stricken prickly witch and a lonely cowboy. Loved that both MCs are trans and bi, and the worldbuilding was impressive considering the short length.
Content notes: gun violence, grief, mild gore, on page sex, family estrangement
Content notes:
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief and Gun violence
Minor: Gore
moonyreadsbystarlight's review against another edition
emotional
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Transphobia, Gun violence, and Homophobia
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