Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Dark Night Golden Dawn by Allison Carr Waechter

13 reviews

bree_h_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

1.5

For a book that I thought started pretty strong, rating it so low is such a disappointment.

I LOVED how casually queer it was. I loved the setup of immortals and immortal adjacent being high society and needing to navigate that. I love how the MC’s history was hinted at and implied and it gave us a sense of the dynamics between her and the other characters and how fragile they were. And I LOVED how much it reminded me of Pride & Prejudice and Bridgerton.

HOWEVER I felt like it fell off at the middle. The MC and LI had a conflict from their past and it would take a lot to work through and resolve. And while the book handled recovering from an unhealthy relationship fairly well, this conflict was just brushed over. This was an early sign for the rest of the plot where issues and plot points were rushed through, information was dumped onto the audience, and the romance was FLOWN through and felt rushed.

My only other notable issues were how easy it was to get lost while magic was being practiced. Everything was described in a really loose way, which can work to emphasise how other worldly it is, but if it’s to the detriment of the reader understanding what’s happening in the scene it ought to be reworked. Finally, as always, these characters were REALLY horny at REALLY weird times. Like y’all should not be thinking about hooking up in the remains of your ex, just saying.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Violence, Body shaming, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Blood, Confinement, and Death

Moderate: Torture, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Sexism, Addiction, Drug use, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Fatphobia, Child abuse, and Alcoholism

Minor: Medical content, Eating disorder, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, and Grief

bibble_kingly's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Torture, Grief, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Animal cruelty, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Classism, Blood, Body horror, and Stalking

Moderate: Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Dementia, and Abandonment

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

wordrevel's review

dark mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

3.0

The world building, plot and strong familial relationships were so well crafted, I wish I could’ve enjoyed Dark Night Golden Dawn a great deal more. There were so many elements that impressed me with the nuance that they were woven into the storytelling.

The list of CWs turned out to be longer than my weekly grocery list though, which I didn’t know when the ebook caught my eye on Libby. The

violent sex involving biting

between

Finn and Harlow

made me extremely uncomfortable as well. I don’t see how any of that is romantic. Perhaps I would’ve loved it if the “romantic” aspects had been dialled down but maybe that’s the point of romantic fantasy and I was caught off-guard because I don’t read a lot of it.

Then there was a scene towards the end where

Harlow and Fin were sucking blood from each other in the hopes of saving themselves

, which again made my stomach churn.

If you are looking for a very diverse cast and want to read romantasy, you’ll likely enjoy this book, should your threshold for graphic scenes be moderate to high. Mine’s comparably on the lower end, so I unfortunately won’t have the mettle to continue the series, regardless of how badly I want to know the resolutions to the conflicts.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual content, Violence, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Kidnapping, Stalking, Blood, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Suicide attempt, Torture, Animal cruelty, Outing, Bullying, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Drug use, Alcohol, and Lesbophobia

teaand_tomes's review

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.0

I found the plot of Dark Night Golden Dawn to be incredibly intricate and filled with intriguing lore and mystery. The exploration of the Scroll of Akatei and its significance to the characters' past, present, and future has left me curious and eager to uncover its secrets.

The relationship between Finn and Harlow, with its second-chance romance, was charming. While I enjoyed their reconciliation, I personally would have appreciated a bit more angst before they reunited.

The author skillfully portrayed Harlow's dark and complex emotions, making her a relatable and tangible character. I appreciated how the author depicted Harlow navigating her struggles both independently and with the support of her loved ones. The moments where Harlow withdrew from others in response to stress and overwhelming emotions felt incredibly realistic.

I particularly enjoyed how the story initially resembled a fantasy version of Pride & Prejudice, with its five sisters, well-meaning parents, and high society gentlemen reminiscent of Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley. However, I also appreciated the deviations from this familiar path, allowing the story to pay homage to Jane Austen's classic without simply reinterpreting it.

Overall, Dark Night Golden Dawn is a captivating fantasy romance set in a contemporary world of magic, deception, and betrayal. Its intricate plot, well-developed characters, and realistic exploration of emotions make for an engaging read. I eagerly anticipate diving further into The Immortal Orders Trilogy and discovering what lies ahead for Finn and Harlow.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting

Minor: Body shaming, Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, Bullying, Child abuse, Outing, Blood, Hate crime, and Vomit

mads_reads_books's review

slow-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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Lesbophobia, Self harm, Colonisation, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Toxic relationship, Torture, Sexual harassment, Animal cruelty, Murder, Kidnapping, and Homophobia

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, Stalking, Torture, Colonisation, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Death, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Murder, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Classism, Drug use, Rape, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Body shaming, Homophobia, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Stalking, Suicide, Torture, Toxic friendship, Violence, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Infidelity, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Suicidal thoughts

unsuccessfulbookclub's review

challenging emotional tense 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

3.75

The pacing in this bad boy is ALL over the place and it really feels like a romance author deciding to write fantasy vs the other way around. I wanted a lot more emphasis on the plot, magic system and politics, because there is some EPIC stuff going on here but instead we live in Harlow’s head for 80% of the book and the girl has some things she has to WORK ON, ok? And that is fair but it makes the book a little boring until the last 15%, which I have to say I absolutely loved. Will I be reading book two? Yes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, Murder, War, Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, and Homophobia

Moderate: Vomit and Biphobia

mycatnorbert's review

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? No

4.75

I loved the main character and the world building in this book. It really takes an interesting turn at the end, but overall an enjoyable read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Stalking, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Fatphobia, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Colonisation, Death of parent, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Body shaming, Bullying, Classism, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use

juliamallory's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Pride and Prejudice meets Bridgerton meets Crescent City!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Animal cruelty and Domestic abuse

gimmiiie's review

emotional 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: Classism, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Outing, Physical abuse, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, and Death of parent

finnickdeservedbetter's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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

Tropes/Themes:

second chance, friends to enemies to lovers, enemies to allies to friends, healing from abuse, ancient war, oppressive rulers, rare powers

Rep:

bi (1+ character (fmc)), lesbian (2+ characters), gay (2 characters), non-binary (2 characters), wlw (5 characters), nblm (2 characters), aro-ace (1 character)

+ are due to the main character's parents who are wlw but it's never specified if they're bi, lesbian, pan, etc.

Written review to come

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Violence

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Bullying, Suicide attempt, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Confinement, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Sexual violence, Torture, Child abuse, Infidelity, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, and Fire/Fire injury