Reviews tagging 'Violence'

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske

158 reviews

haddy's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious sad 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

Absolutely adored this book. The way the author describes how Edwin and Robin see each other, as well as the way magic works in this world, was so brilliant and lovely. I also really enjoyed mystery plot line and how that was interwoven into the story.
A couple things that I think let it down and the reason it didn’t quite make it to 5⭐️ is because I think the world building was a bit clunky at the start and so it took me a while to get into it, and then also unfortunately the ending felt rushed, a bit unsatisfying and didn’t make complete sense to me.
It was an absolutely gorgeous story that was so well written, but just book ended by a slightly disappointing start and finish. I still think it is well worth the read, I love Edwin and Robin with my whole heart🫶

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, and Violence

booksthatburn's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Sexual content, Torture, Death, Cursing, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Blood, Grief, Homophobia, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Ableism, and Drug use

Minor: Self harm, Suicide, Alcohol, Vomit, Child death, and Death of parent

centurylore's review against another edition

adventurous 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

honestly fell a bit in love w edwin + robin tbh

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Bullying, and Child abuse

Moderate: Misogyny

blacksphinx'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Sexual content, Bullying, Violence, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Classism, Homophobia, Sexism, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Outing

Minor: Chronic illness, Suicide, and Racism

anna_hepworth's review against another edition

fast-paced

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

3.5

What I thought I was getting was fantasy adventure (magic in England in the ~1910s) with a romance subplot. What I got was the type of romance plot that doesn't appeal, with a varnish of fantasy adventure sub-subplot, and quite a lot of sex scenes. Maybe if I'd had the right expectations, I'd have appreciated this story more.

As it was, there are lots of interesting details, and there were some fabulous paragraphs. But I finished it somewhat out of spite, and because I have book two out of the library, waiting for me to read it. I did want to know what happened, but I didn't really want to have to deal with the romantic couple and their emotional miscommunications. 

I can see that there are some interesting overarching plot threads, with three items to be found, and three books to find them in, so I have hopes that book two won't slump. 

Overall summary: world building fantastic, plot a bit rough, characterisation a little off and occasionally veering towards farce, writing shows promise, particularly as this is a debut novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Classism, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Bullying, and Chronic illness

Minor: Homophobia and Alcohol

reinynights's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Sexual content

Moderate: Torture, Violence, Murder, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Death of parent and Alcohol

ooms's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring mysterious 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

Love it would highly recommend. A wonderful mix of magic mystery and sexual tension.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence

Minor mentions of drowning

sadiesaurus's review

adventurous emotional mysterious 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

I really enjoyed this book. Edwin and Robin feel like multidimensional, deep characters with complex emotions and histories. I felt like I could connect with both of them in their histories of dysfunction with their families. The way they initially bumped heads but then grew to like each other didn't feel contrived or silly, it felt plausible and real. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Violence

Moderate: Misogyny and Bullying

arialien's review against another edition

dark informative medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Mental illness, and Chronic illness

caitlinemccann's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Torture, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, and Murder

Moderate: Violence, Outing, Sexism, Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, Blood, and Body horror

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Chronic illness, and Stalking