Reviews tagging 'Blood'

A Winter's Promise by Christelle Dabos

27 reviews

jannikemagwasser's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional slow-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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Pregnancy

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Death, Gore, Incest, Miscarriage, Murder, Pregnancy, and Violence

ahobbitslibrary's review against another edition

adventurous funny 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse and Murder

Moderate: Blood, Confinement, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Dysphoria

mxrumphius's review

slow-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Murder and Blood

Minor: Xenophobia, Suicide, Sexual assault, Police brutality, and Child death

claudiamacpherson's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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

3.5

Ophelia has lived on Anima, an Ark populated almost entirely by her family, her whole life. When her family arranges her marriage with a mysterious man from the Pole, a distant Ark, she must move there, accompanied only by her godmother and armed with her Animist powers: "reading" objects' histories by touch and mirror travel. She soon learns that her life has become far more dangerous than she ever imagined, and she must decide who to trust in order to survive the brutal Ark.

3. 5 stars

I had high hopes for this book after seeing it on booktok, and while I enjoyed it, it didn't completely live up to those expectations. The world-building was a bit heavy-handed, but I really liked how the setting felt like a book version of a Studio Ghibli movie. It was a bit confusing trying to follow the details of the Arks, families, and magic system, but ultimately it created an interesting universe. The characters also weren't always likable, but Dabos did a good job (almost too good!) creating tension so that I never knew who to trust. Ophelia is not like most YA protagonists; not only is she mostly very quiet and thoughtful, but she barely used her powers throughout the book. I honestly didn't know that this book was originally written in French until about a third of the way through, when I looked it up because the writing style and word choice was often a bit odd. I'm not sure if that's due to the translator or if it's Dabos' writing style, but it definitely added to the tone of the book. 

Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just my judgement of how happy the ending is because I always wish someone would tell me that before I read books):

Kind of a cliffhanger, I guess? The end isn't really happy or sad, and I honestly still don't 100% know what to think about most of the characters, so we'll see.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Bullying, and Physical abuse

Minor: Death, Incest, Miscarriage, and Murder

dancingkouign's review

adventurous emotional mysterious relaxing sad medium-paced

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

4.0

a bit slow for my taste but the plot is interesting enough to make me wanna pick up another 500 page book haha
i actually really like the main character which surprised me because i usually struggle with quiet characters but she's great, she's quiet but she has strong opinions, I like that

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Blood and Sexism

aunteaandbiscuits's review

dark reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

A slow set up that leads to a much more exciting sequel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Minor: Animal cruelty, Car accident, Child death, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Grief, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Police brutality, Sexism, Blood, and Alcoholism

peachani's review against another edition

tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Violence, Child death, Bullying, Physical abuse, Grief, and Confinement

Minor: Blood, Toxic relationship, and Torture