Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

For Whom The Belle Tolls by Jaysea Lynn

210 reviews

adventurous dark emotional funny 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: Complicated

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medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes

good concept, poor execution - Jaysea's skits are great but the writing is shoddy and her editor did her dirty

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lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense slow-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

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous emotional funny reflective sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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challenging dark emotional fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

First of all, this book is not going to appeal to everyone. TBH, I picked it up because my kindle suggested it to me. This book is absolutely outside my comfort zone.For Whom the Belle Tolls has CW galore. You name it, it’s in this book. Not to mention there is one steamy scene that I completely skipped.(It’s not my jam, but you do you,boo.)

However, I ate this book up in 24 hours,so I’m left feeling…confused? It’s horrific yet cozy? Trauma-filled yet funny? Dark yet oddly found-family? This book deals a lot with religious trauma, and it feels like much of the author’s own personal experiences are steeped in the book. For these reasons, I can’t give this anything lower than a 4. Should you read it? Maybe… maybe not? I’m glad (I think?) that I picked it up. Will I read the next one… not sure! 😂 I read this book on Libby. 

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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

This book had so many elements to it that I can’t not rate it a five star. It’s a rom com for sure, with smut and romance and all that delicious stuff. But it’s also a beautiful story about two non perfect individuals finding each other, and others, and working through their trauma. This author just gets people. The characters are so well thought out and complex that I was fed. The book is long, and I admit the start was slow but I feel like that’s a big book intimidation problem and not specific to this book. There’s plot, that comes out in the last third, with many hints up to it in the start. But it’s also a very character heavy plot, and you follow their growth and the life together. The hellp desk is actually a minor plot point but also the heart of the book, as Lily couldn’t be where she is without that. Her writing on religious is so relatable and beautiful, and is really touching especially for people who have had issues with their faith or have left it behind. There are trigger warnings, as the author explores many bad things about humanity as well as the good. Chapter 42 is especially heavy, as it follows Lily’s human life. There’s SA, self harm, suicide attempts and then her actual cancer battle and death. I won’t spoiler warning these as it’s important to know. The grief at the end is so beautiful and I love how the culture of the afterlife is explored in the way the funeral is. The ending is a happy one, and one I feel is fleshed out enough. It makes sense in the end. And I loved the epilogue. I feel like it’s a reference to the skits on TikTok which I know vaguely of but I like it, as it’s a perfect reflection of Lily’s start. I feel lucky to have read this on KU and she’s an author I hopes keeps writing because I haven’t read prose this beautiful in a while.  

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