Reviews tagging 'Death'

How to Bite Your Neighbor and Win a Wager by D.N. Bryn

29 reviews

shiradfrankel's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring relaxing 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical trauma, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Cursing, Blood, Medical content, and Grief

margaret_k30's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, and Death of parent

Moderate: Medical trauma and Medical content

Minor: Child abuse, Alcohol, Body horror, Confinement, Gore, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Death, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, and Grief

its_vendetta's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

SO good!! THE PINING. My only complaint is that it felt a little short like I wanted more of them!! The plot was very intriguing and I like that

the city’s plot doesn’t get resolved and that it continues into the next books with more characters.

It makes it more realistic yet hopeful at the same time. Loved reading about these silly guys 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death of parent, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, and Confinement

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Murder, and Gore

Minor: Kidnapping, Police brutality, Stalking, Torture, Self harm, Death, and Bullying

sir_melons's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Murder, and Death of parent

Minor: Self harm, Homophobia, Abandonment, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, and Religious bigotry

alex_baker's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious sad 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

4.0

The two characters are so dumb in the best of ways. Their relationship made me giggle like a lovestruck girlie.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, Murder, Stalking, Mental illness, Grief, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Abandonment, Confinement, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Biphobia, Gore, Body horror, Cursing, Alcohol, Genocide, Gun violence, Bullying, Death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Classism, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, and Stalking

booksthatburn's review against another edition

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

Vincent has been sneaking into Wesley's house to bite him at night because his blood tastes so good he can't stay away. Wesley needs a vampire to hand in to a shady pharmaceutical company which experiments on vampires. Wesley wants the access to get information about his mother's disappearance after she signed up for one of the drug trials, but as he gets to know Vincent he starts seeing him as a person rather than just a means to an end. Vincent doesn't trust Wesley enough to confide that he's sleeping rough, hounded by someone who hates him for being a vampire and starts spreading that information to make his life impossible. The vampire hunters who work for the pharmaceutical company use classist tactics to make it impossible for vampires to live stable lives, then further take advantage of the precarity caused by being unhoused and unemployed to further the fear of vampires due to their diet. 

HOW TO BITE YOUR NEIGHBOR AND WIN A WAGER has a self-contained and very satisfying story, featuring a slow exploration of the boundaries between "liking someone who is a vampire" and having a vampire fetish. The romance builds slowly, held back for a while by mutual distrust and fascination which eventually turns into passion. I get very stressed out by stories where at least one of the characters in a relationship is lying, but this was handled in a way that meant I was able to finish the story without being too stressed to keep reading. I like a lot of things about how this was handled, from the worldbuilding sneaking in info about how vampires have existed for hundreds of years (or longer), to Wesley's long-distance best friend who can provide emotional support but can't solve the logistical problems. A lot of excellent storytelling decisions were involved, and I had a great time reading this.

I'm pretty sure one of the minor characters is the protagonist of the next book, but even if I'm wrong, there are some pretty big things that Vincent and Wesley weren't able to handle which could be addressed in future books. I'm looking forward to the next one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Gaslighting, Confinement, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Torture, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Medical trauma, Homophobia, Excrement, and Medical content

aehmyers's review against another edition

emotional funny 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Blood

booksandstardust's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Death of parent, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Stalking, and Suicidal thoughts

adrienanthony's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Gore, Death, Stalking, Slavery, Abandonment, Blood, Violence, Death of parent, Torture, and Self harm

readingwithtemperance's review against another edition

emotional funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

I liked that the author spun a twist on the typical vampire story. Where in this world vampires are known about but ostracized by society. And not the monsters that humans deem them to be at all. Definely darker than I originally anticipated, but still had some sweet moments. I didn't like that the corporation didn't really have any consequences to the atrocities they committed. And it definitely felt the characters were moving a bit too fast at the end. Personally I wanted more rage from Wesley. But this was fast paced, well written, and very enjoyable! I'll probably pick up the sequel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Ableism, Blood, Death, Medical content, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent and Self harm