Reviews with content warning for Grief - Dark Fae

Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Dark Fae by Susanne Valenti, Caroline Peckham

14 reviews

colorcrystals's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.0

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nineinchnails's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

one thing about this duo they're gonna write a mary sue! they manage to make it addictive to read though somehow bc i was on the edge of my seat pretty much the whole time. i was worried i'd find this boring because i'm starting it in the middle of zodiac academy (on a huge cliffhanger) but i got sucked into this story way faster than i expected. i will say it's very OTT and it's a reverse harem so probably not for everyone but i found this so fun. it's in the same world as zodiac academy (just set at a different academy) and it's kind of a murder murder mystery with turf wars and some insane secret society/cult it had my blood pressure spiking constantly.

the writing itself isn't amazing but it's consistent with their other works i've read so far and it might be growing on me or something because it bugged me way less this time around. there isn't a lot of spelling/grammar mistakes (that i've noticed) it's more just the writing style and prose. i think the ridiculousness of the plot in general helps carry the writing since i never got a chance to notice pacing or similar issues with the writing because i was just so excited to see what would happen next. if you want a fun read (and can put up with the whole mary sue/alpha girl thing) though? it definitely delivers.

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selestre's review

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funny mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.75

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aubrieanne's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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grace28's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense 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? N/A

3.5

I just want to start by saying Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti wrote my most favourite book series ever Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep and I loved everything about it. So when I was struggling to find a book to read where the writing wasn't a piece of crap they came to mind and let me tell you I'm not disappointed in the slightest. I stopped reading mid-book 3 times over with separate series because I just could not deal with shitty writing and after reading Dark Fae I'm so pleased that there are four more books left for me to devour.

Quick blurb:

Elise has suffered the unimaginable loss of her brother and the worse part is that he was murdered and they ruled it an accidental death. So she set off to Aurora Academy to get the revenge she so helplessly craves. The only hitch is her clue, and it leads her to four gorgeously dangerous men who want her almost as much as she wants her brother's killer.

This book was really well done and thats exactly what I was looking for, the authors never come up short with the spice either even though it's a medium burn for most of them anyway.

I'm really excited to read the second book and I can just focus on the plot and character development instead of unrealistically hoping that the writing would get better in so many other book series I've read.

Overall I rate this book 3.5 stars only because it's the first book and we all know in complex world-building like this that world talks up space that later gets used for the best of scenes and such.

I highly recommend it if you're looking for a strong FMC that doesn't just fall at the feet of the MMCs and that isn't a bully romance for once (even tho I love bully romances).

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kotahlotah's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny fast-paced

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

4.0

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inkdrinkers's review against another edition

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dark emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Elise Callisto might be my favorite of the Twisted Sister heroines so far.

When Elise's brother dies mysteriously at Aurora Academy, everyone blames it on a new fae drug making its rounds called killblaze. But Elise knows her brother would never take a drug that would risk his chance at a better life for both of them, and she knows she'll have to infiltrate the academy and find out which of the four kings that reside there are the reason her family is fractured and her brother is dead.

Maybe I am just wholeheartedly sold on the Twisted Sisters, but I have to say, I really liked this. I knew absolutely nothing going into this book, only that it was a reverse harem with a NA spin and set in the same world as Zodiac Academy. The characters you get introduced to in this book are Elise, who is looking for her brother's murderer by way of investigating the four most powerful fae at Aurora Academy: Dante, Gabriel, Leon, and Ryder. This story starts out in a much darker tone than Zodiac Academy and I'm glad I delved into it without much knowledge because I just let the story ebb and tug me where it was going to go.

Are these the pinnacle of literature? Absolutely not. But I firmly believe that anyone can enjoy books, regardless of the merit of their stories as long as you root for the characters. And I did find myself rooting for Elise - I love her, I love her scrappy energy, her sometimes childish views of the world and revenge, and her moments where she gets lost in each of the men she's investigating and the things she's slowly discovering at her time at Aurora. The ending is one I've come to expect - the last 30% of all Twisted Sister's books seem to be, "let's lay a brick on the gas throttle and see where it takes us" and as an avid fan of fanfic from years past, I really love the way they don't let up and don't let too many secrets slip out in the narrative. It's fun, and I had a good time and I want to know more.

I'm eagerly about to dive into the next book in this series. Not only because I've been doing a ZA/Solaria read but because I want to know what happens to Elise and I want her to have her happy ending - and okay, maybe I want to see the giant lion lose his shit again.

Content Warnings: sexual content (starts around 30% in, continues throughout in suggestive scenarios, no RH is present in this first book), dubious consent / sexual harassment (a character can make others see visions and they're often sexual in nature, know your own limits, but it personally didn't bother me), blood, violence, gang violence (the main secondary plot is between two gangs in Aurora Academy and their ties to the greater world of Solaria, no guns are used, only knives, fangs, and claws), grief (Elise is struggling with her grief for her brother in the entirety of this book), & probably more, this isn't an exhaustive list but it's a start!

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