Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater

11 reviews

celeste_golds's review

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Kidnapping, and Child abuse

Moderate: Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Death, and Blood

Minor: Slavery, Pregnancy, War, and Death of parent

chichisode's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

if Pride and Prejudice had a baby with Howl's Moving Castle. finished this in half a day, best decision of my life. cured my reading slump.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Medical content, Trafficking, Death, and War

Moderate: Trafficking, Confinement, Pandemic/Epidemic, Child abuse, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Pregnancy, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Violence, and Child abuse

blewballoon's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

I had this book in my TBR for such a long time and kept putting it off, even though it sounded like something I would love. Maybe I was worried it wouldn't live up to the hype I had created for it, but I think it did. I had a delightful time listening to this story on audiobook. The narrator has just the right tone for a character like Dora and a story that is a sort of hybrid of a regency romance and a fairy tale. I was surprised at how much was packed into such a short book, and how it didn't feel like things moved overly quickly. I tend to prefer more of a slow burn romance, but even with the shorter time frame, I felt like Dora and Elias managed to spend enough moments together with meaningful conversation and shared experiences that the romance was natural. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Blood, Classism, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Child abuse, Pregnancy, War, and Murder

readwithria's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted 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

5.0

Half a Soul is full of heart, and artfully combines traditional faerie stories with classic regency romance trope.

I was not expecting to love this book as much as I did! The prose is so lovely, and I have too many favorite quotes to share them all. The characters are compelling and while not all in possession of an entire soul, they are all in possession of fully fleshed out wants and desires.

Dora is such an interesting young woman, and reading through her perspective while she is without her acute emotional responses was fascinating. Seeing her “long-tailed” emotions shift and grow throughout the book was such a treat, and Atwater’s descriptions did them such justice.

Read this book of you love
🩵 faerie folklore
🩶 regency romance
🩵 grumpy MMCs
🩶 excellent banter
🩵 strong secondary characters 
🩶 hand touching (iykyk)

I can’t in good conscience end this review without leaving you one of my favorite quotes from the book

“You once told me that your cousin was a warm lantern to you, Dora. I know what you mean by that now. Of all things, you have become my lantern too – and I cannot bring myself to let you go out”

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical content, Blood, Kidnapping, War, Violence, and Gun violence

Minor: Pregnancy and Confinement

valpuri's review

dark funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Blood, War, Violence, Sexism, Physical abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, and Classism

Minor: Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, and Child death

rinku's review against another edition

adventurous informative lighthearted mysterious 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

4.0

I don’t have too much to say about Half a Soul since I quite enjoyed it and the cozy vibes it had. Because of this, it’s not the most exciting book but sometimes, even I like to read a more light-hearted book. 

This book follows Dora who, after her mom made a deal with a faerie, lost half of her soul which leads to her struggling with reading social cues. While she’s with her aunt and cousin in London where they are supposed to find husbands, she meets Elias who wants to help her with her soul. At the same time, there’s a mysterious sickness going on in London and they both try to find a way to heal it. 

In my feeling though, the book is more character-driven than plot-driven. It’s quite focussed on Dora and her trying to navigate London’s high society. I furthermore liked the topics that were reflected on in the course of the story, like the brutality of war, classism, and the link between sickness and poverty. Of course, the love interest Elias plays a big role as well. It was quite random how they met but I for once liked the banter between them. The ending was exciting as well with

Dora being captured in the Faerie world and meeting her other half. The ending was quite satisfying with the Faerie being killed and the captured kids returning

. 

I haven’t read many historical fantasies before, especially not ones taking place in the regency era. To be honest, I barely know anything about it, and I sometimes had the feeling that I lacked some of the historical context. Still, it was interesting, and I learned something about this time period. 

Additionally, Dora is a great and very likable main character. Atwater confirmed here on Goodreads what I already thought: that Dora is neurodivergent coded which I really love. It’s nice as well that in the end, she’s

not “healed” but stays the way she is, at least until she returns to the Faerie world

. It was a bit cliché how she has no parents anymore, but oh well. All the other characters besides her are likable as well and I even liked the romance which is rare for me in these times lmao. Also, can we talk about the amazing fact that men are allowed to cry in this novel? 

Half a Soul is an enjoyable and light-hearted read that still is able to talk about serious topics like war or poverty. Furthermore, the characters are so likable, and the historical setting is interesting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Classism, and Misogyny

Moderate: War, Medical content, and Death

Minor: Death of parent and Pregnancy

angelsfw's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child abuse, Child death, Medical content, Death, Blood, and Kidnapping

Moderate: War

Minor: Pregnancy

chrisljm's review

lighthearted mysterious relaxing 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

5.0

such a lovely fairytale atmosphere. i loved the story, characters, and the romance between elias and dora. the only concession i wished was to be able to spend a longer time with the characters. :(

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Slavery, Trafficking, and Blood

Moderate: Death of parent, Medical content, Pregnancy, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, War, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Ableism, Abandonment, Bullying, and Confinement

snivellus's review

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious relaxing 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

4.0

I really liked where this book was headed but it became a bit lack-luster in the end. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, War, Child death, Classism, Death, and Pregnancy

bookishflower's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Classism, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Kidnapping

Minor: Physical abuse, War, and Pregnancy