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thirdeyeangel23's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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
3.5
Alyssa Cole knows how to get you in your feelings. This is the story of Marley and Ewan. The product of a former slave and slave master, Marley has spent most of her life living under the safety of her sister who took her into the family estate. As a well known herbalist and abolitionist everything changes for Marley the night her brother returns home with his wife and Marley offers refuge to a Union soldier. As the war continues to wage on Marley finds solace in Ewan while everything she’s ever known crumbled. A story of unlikely forbidden love blossoming under the most dangerous of circumstances, Cole keeps you on the edge of your seat until the very end.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Slavery
beccaand's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Racism, Racial slurs, and Sexual content
Moderate: Violence and Death
Minor: Death
elliott_the_clementine's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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
3.75
nbeckham's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
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
Big comfort read for me. Love watching Marlie and Ewan come together and also accept themselves. Great adventure romance.
greylandreviews's review against another edition
3.0
3.25 stars
There was a lot of great one liners in here. Also believe that our hero in this story might be on the autism spectrum. Really enjoyed this one. I only wish that the plot got dragged out a little bit more and was also longer.
Trigger Warnings: racism, beating, blood, physical abuse, sexual harassment, mention of rape, slavery, torture, and violence
There was a lot of great one liners in here. Also believe that our hero in this story might be on the autism spectrum. Really enjoyed this one. I only wish that the plot got dragged out a little bit more and was also longer.
Trigger Warnings: racism, beating, blood, physical abuse, sexual harassment, mention of rape, slavery, torture, and violence
taraminter's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
lucyhargrave's review
challenging
emotional
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? It's complicated
4.0
afgerstenberger's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
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
3.5
lizshayne's review against another edition
challenging
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? No
3.5
Alright @RomanceNovelLi1, you were right.
This one is markedly better. Both because my hackles did not go up at the relationship between the two MCs and because the things that drew them to each other felt more real to me.
Also, I mean, historical autistic character who I really liked. Also I have some notes. I'll get to that in a minute.
This was one of those romances where the story gets equal billing with the romance and it's not always clear which is facilitating which, which I like. Overall it worked for me in a way that the previous book didn't.
2 comments:
1) Do people really spend that much time fantasizing about potential partners while they're still either strangers or just friends? Like - is this a romance novel trope used to convey interest that doesn't happen in real life or is this something that happens regularly and I'm just unaware of it? (Brought to you by the time I insisted that the conceit of reading people's emotions on their faces or people was a literary convenience and then I learned that. nope, I'm just autistic. Which was a wild experience.)
2) Ewan has a certain amount of convenient autism, meaning that the degree to which he is disabled by being (coded as) autistic depends on how much the plot needs him to be rather than being extremely consistent. Also Cole does this thing (that even autistic authors do and it drives me bonkers) where love somehow breaks through flat affect to have him show emotions and that's how you know it's love and, like, that's not how flat affect works.
I can think of one author who does it well figures out how to bring the reader into the autistic experience of feeling rather than portray autistic characters as being less autistic in moments of high drama. And this isn't to say that autistic people don't have feelings (NOPE) or show feelings (also nope). But once you write a character who has a certain amount of flat affect, you ought to honor that.
This one is markedly better. Both because my hackles did not go up at the relationship between the two MCs and because the things that drew them to each other felt more real to me.
Also, I mean, historical autistic character who I really liked. Also I have some notes. I'll get to that in a minute.
This was one of those romances where the story gets equal billing with the romance and it's not always clear which is facilitating which, which I like. Overall it worked for me in a way that the previous book didn't.
2 comments:
1) Do people really spend that much time fantasizing about potential partners while they're still either strangers or just friends? Like - is this a romance novel trope used to convey interest that doesn't happen in real life or is this something that happens regularly and I'm just unaware of it? (Brought to you by the time I insisted that the conceit of reading people's emotions on their faces or people was a literary convenience and then I learned that. nope, I'm just autistic. Which was a wild experience.)
2) Ewan has a certain amount of convenient autism, meaning that the degree to which he is disabled by being (coded as) autistic depends on how much the plot needs him to be rather than being extremely consistent. Also Cole does this thing (that even autistic authors do and it drives me bonkers) where love somehow breaks through flat affect to have him show emotions and that's how you know it's love and, like, that's not how flat affect works.
I can think of one author who does it well figures out how to bring the reader into the autistic experience of feeling rather than portray autistic characters as being less autistic in moments of high drama. And this isn't to say that autistic people don't have feelings (NOPE) or show feelings (also nope). But once you write a character who has a certain amount of flat affect, you ought to honor that.
traceyanderson's review
adventurous
challenging
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs, Slavery, War, Murder, Violence, Classism, Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Racism, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse