Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

A Winter's Promise by Christelle Dabos

66 reviews

amazelan's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Death, Sexism, Violence, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Fatphobia

Moderate: Classism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Blood, Murder, Suicide attempt, Child death, Suicide, Grief, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Sexual content, Alcohol, Infidelity, Drug abuse, Abandonment, Vomit, Infertility, and Sexual assault

joisaddler's review

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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Violence, Emotional abuse, Classism, Incest, and Physical abuse

skudiklier's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

Honestly, I just couldn't get into this one. I might have even DNF'd it if it hadn't been an audiobook. It was interesting enough on some levels, and I cared about what happened to Ophelia, but in some ways it just felt like a bunch of sad/frustrating/confusing things happening over and over. Like every once in a while the situation would change but it never got better, and I just didn't feel very engaged on most levels. It's well-written I think but it's just not for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexism, Misogyny, Child death, Murder, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Ableism, Classism, and Death

Moderate: Sexual assault, Alcohol, Blood, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, and Pregnancy

Minor: Suicide

mariagiulia's review

adventurous dark reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Physical abuse

tmcphetridge4's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

It took me almost 3 years to finish this book. It was quite a lengthy one and I kept returning it to the library with very little progress. I finally decided that enough was enough and that I should finish it off. The book was molasses slow. It has a pretty interesting magic system with lots of political and societal intrigue, but it was very tense with hatred between characters. Nearly downright torturous. That being said, I am intrigued to read the second book. I know the novels only get lengthier, but I want to know how much further the protagonist gets in the den of wolves. Or should I say dragons? The one thing that is really dragging me down is the somewhat incestuous relationship between the aunt and her family spirit. How does that even work?

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Pregnancy

Minor: Incest

Not entirely sure if the -incest- tag is correct, cause it is an ancient family spirit? But it feels like incest.

zrwright's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious 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

I fell in love by the second page. The world building is very immersive. It felt very reminiscent of Howl's Moving Castle and The Enchanted Forest Chronicles. It was very easy to empathize with the characters, whether you liked them or not.

Ophelia's journey does seem dark at times, but her character keeps you invested, even when things seem tense or impossible.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse and Confinement

g_c_geeks's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This book was very slow to get into, but the writing style was beautifully atmospheric. I found myself struggling to get through the first bit, but all of a sudden I had finished it! The second half of the book really picks up as things start to get unravelled and revealed. I’m intrigued by where the rest of the series will go. 
I will say though that (what is hinted at being) the main romance is questionable to me. I feel no attachment to either of the characters (or any in the book really). The fmc is too timid in this first book, and the mmc has no discernible personality other than being a brick wall as of yet haha. 

Like another reviewer, I was a little disappointed that all the female characters in the book were portrayed negatively, some quite violently. I hope we may get some more positive female characters in the rest of the series. 

Regardless, I still enjoyed reading this book. It mildly reminded me of The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, mainly due to the flowery language and ‘not much plot just vibes’. That’s a compliment bc the night circus is one of my favourite books. 

Will eventually read the rest of the series, particularly bc this book ends on a cliffhanger (and my friend loves these books a lot). 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse and Physical abuse

chiaraaaa's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Bullying, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Sexism, and Emotional abuse

japanasi's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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

what started as a “mc is not like other girls” quickly became a page turner (look at me, reading 530 pages in two days!); court intrigues and a fascinating magic system, teenage me would have devoured this book !

there’s little romance but I’m assuming it may follow in the sequels; it’s not exactly enemies to lovers but more like “mutual dislike” or indifference to lovers, probably, it’s a slow burn in any case (and we’re talking slow here)

in some parts it didn’t feel like YA novel while in others it certainly did (yay I’m being vague on purpose) 

I very much enjoyed this book, I can’t wait to read the sequel(s)!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Violence, Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Death, and Physical abuse

Minor: Child death, Murder, and Sexual content

fareid123's review

mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

Bit slow in places 
Hard to read at points 
Ending was confusing and unsatisfying 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse

Minor: Suicide and Gaslighting