Reviews tagging 'Child death'

One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig

156 reviews

emzvoice's review against another edition

3.0

dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I fear this may be overhyped 😬

The characters are likeable and the romance good, strong villain, atmospheric setting and some instances of great writing… but it’s rather trope-y aaaand incredibly predictable.

Some of the rhymes are decent and fit the tone, others are eye role inducing. The first 100 pages were a struggle, read as YA and the magic system being based around a deck of cards felt juvenile (maybe I’m being harsh). It did pick up towards the end, I am now invested and I think it’s going in an interesting direction, but took a while getting there. 

Also severely lacking diversity.  [The Yew family are described as having “copper skin”. An ambiguous attempt at BIPOC representation that ultimately falls short of clear representation.]

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic

wifi_bifi's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark 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: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Death, Sexual content

Minor: Child abuse, Death of parent

purplenotgreen's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Thoroughly enjoyed. The magic system is so interesting

and I loved the descent into madness attached to each card and to Elspeth’s magic.

The characters are all very interesting. The romance was a nice touch but definitely a side story to the main plot which I love. I enjoyed the little poems throughout, I thought they really added to the color of the world.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Terminal illness, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Death of parent, Sexual harassment

melmo72's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Death of parent

jess_justmaybeperfect's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail

bookshelfoverload's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Gore, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury

khymihr's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous medium-paced

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death

kenziekat's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Violence

oraya_blo0dmoon's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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An excellent read, dark & twisted with the tales of love.  Victorian aged surrounded by a refreshing magical system that I wouldn’t have even thought possible, but Rachel executed it perfectly.  Sinister dark vibes but not in the dark romance way.  More like gothic Victorian society meets Jeckyl and Hyde.  

Spice was light but did not deter the storyline, plot was fascinating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Blood, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol

Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic

allyrosereadsbooks's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, War, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Infidelity