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Graphic: Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Terminal illness, Torture, Kidnapping, Grief, Abandonment
Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol
Moderate: Sexual content, Blood, Death of parent
Graphic: Death, Blood
Moderate: Bullying, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Murder, Abandonment
Minor: Infidelity, Death of parent
The characters are likeable and the romance good, strong villain, atmospheric setting and some instances of great writingā¦ but itās 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 Iām being harsh). It did pick up towards the end, I am now invested and I think itās going in an interesting direction, but took a while getting there.
Also severely lacking diversity. [The Yew family are described as having ācopper skinā. An ambiguous attempt at BIPOC representation that ultimately falls short of clear representation.]
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
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Death, Sexual content
Minor: Child abuse, Death of parent
Minor: Death of parent
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
Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, War, Injury/Injury detail
I would say it is a ātrueā enemies to lovers and sometimes the romance seemed to just pop up in the midst of the main story, but it wasnāt clunky but any means.
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Animal death, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Death of parent
But the characters are definitely left wanting. They are all one-dimensional, reduced to the main trait that leads them through the story. Their relationships with each other are lacking realism. None of them feel like someone you would meet in real life. Their conflicts are interesting, but not explored nearly in depth. And the romance just doesn't seem to fit and be explored well enough to be believable or intriguing. Further, the main character really doesn't change throughout the book. She seems like the same person at the beginning and end. Along with the lackluster characters, Gillig's writing is oftentimes cliche and unbelievable, especially when it comes to dialogue. Unfortunately, this book has a great premise, but needs better execution to really hit the mark.
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Death of parent