Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent

117 reviews

justinekorson's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-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

5.0

This was such a good novel! I couldn't put it down. I was genuinely very enamored with this vampiric world and how Oraya fit into it as a human/not human (since she doesn't really consider herself human). I was glad that her father, Vincent (honestly a very weirdly normal name), clearly loved her. I was worried that by the end of the book I'd hate him when I found out he'd been manipulating her. In a way, he was, but in other books when this is true, the person doing the manipulating doesn't usually care for the MC or regret what they did. You could tell in the story that Vincent truly loved Oraya and wanted the best for her, even though he didn't tell her who she was to him. I also really enjoyed Rhaine as a character. He was very sincere and was clearly so in love with her. I'm glad that even though he lied to her he clearly would die for her, and was very sincerely apologetic about what happened. I'm excited to see how their stories end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Rape, Child death, Grief, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Classism, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, War, and Murder

niamhrowanch's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

THIS RUINED ME

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Grief, Violence, War, Torture, Cursing, Death of parent, Body horror, Classism, Murder, Slavery, Gore, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Sexual content

kjanet's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Slavery, Gore, War, Violence, Grief, Torture, and Physical abuse

Minor: Rape

ladydeathnesta's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.75

I absolutely love this book! It’s near perfection and it’s beautifully devastating 🖤

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Violence, War, Ableism, Death, Sexual violence, Cursing, Police brutality, Self harm, Sexism, Hate crime, Stalking, Gore, Medical trauma, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Cannibalism, Classism, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Medical content, Confinement, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Bullying, Racial slurs, and Sexual harassment

vireya's review

adventurous challenging emotional 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

4.75

It was so good. Think hunger games meets vampires it was beautifully written and the story was captivating. I wish I had more backstory of Vincent and oraya but from what I’ve heard we get a lot of that in the second book. The ending was so unexpected. I knew it was coming and it was still a huge cliffhanger.

I love the way oraya struggles with the relationship between as she puts it her human blood and her vampire heart. And Rhain is the perfect love interest for her because he reflects that in the opposite way. Vampire blood and a human heart. He encourages her to explore who she is and accept her humanity as not being a curse. She grows a lot as a character under his influence. 

I also really loved her relationship with Vincent. It’s an unpopular feeling, but their relationship was so complex. He genuinely loved and cared for her as if she were his child. He kept a lot of secrets from her. And he was wrong to. Some of them were to keep her safe, but others he kept because he straight up lied to her and he didn’t want her to know it. He was a bad man that did a lot of very bad things. He also cared deeply for her. At the end when we

find out she’s his biological daughter

it really highlights just how much he loves her. Especially in a world where

killing or maiming your children to reduce their chance to overpower you isn't uncommon in royal families.

he chose to keep and love her despite it all. And she hates that she knows him as two different people but she loves the side of him that raised her and kept her safe and loved. The scene at the end between them broke my heart. I loved the way it set up the second book and laid the new foundation for her relationship with rhain. I’m very excited to read the next one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Gore

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Sexual content and Sexual assault

graciejlc's review

adventurous medium-paced

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

3.0

Vampire Hunger Games.
A decent read but a little overhyped imo. I wasn't overly attached to the characters or gripped by the story so won't rush to grab the sequel.
The FMC seems a little immature at times & leans into the irritating spoiled princess cliché.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Grief, Classism, and Colonisation

kayceeisbookish's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Blood, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Confinement, War, Death of parent, Child death, Gore, Rape, Violence, Murder, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Death, Grief, Genocide, Slavery, Racism, and Torture

echoechoecho's review

adventurous dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Cursing, Confinement, Torture, Genocide, Body shaming, Blood, Death of parent, Sexual content, War, Violence, Grief, Emotional abuse, Death, Body horror, and Murder

qatkatcat's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Death, Cursing, and Violence

Minor: Gore, Grief, Slavery, Physical abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

joannedrake's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• 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

3.75

Some Hunger Games elements, that went by really quickly. Lots of building up to the end, which was pretty much a corker, so stick with it. More answers will play out in the second book, I hope - lots alluded to here, reasons why, hidden identities, that I’d like resolved. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Death, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Slavery, Gore, and Torture