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tea_coffee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Sexual content and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Gaslighting and Cursing
Minor: Death
bookcheshirecat's review
3.5
“Lucifer, why did so many human emotions feel like physical illness? It was a wonder humans didn’t visit the doctor on an hourly basis.”
➽ A Witch's Guide to Fake Dating a Demon is a swoony, paranormal Romance set in Glimmer Falls! For the most part, I really enjoyed this book. It follows Mariel Spark, a young woman who was prophesized to be an incredibly powerful witch. She has tons of untapped potential ... but has never managed to get her power under control. She doesn't want a grand destiny and is happy using her powers for gardening and baking. However, Mariel's under the thump of her emotionally abusive mother who constantly shames her for not living up to her powers and the life she imagined for her. Luckily Mariel has great friends who support her!!
➽ Mariel accidentally ends up summoning Ozroth the Ruthles a demon who's for his merciless bargains. He can't leave until the bargain is fulfilled so both of them become reluctant roommates. There is more to Ozroth than meets the eye, as he's struggling with feeling too human and is desperate to earn back his deadly reputation. I liked the romance for the most part, especially as Ozroth would stand up for Mariel and couldn't understand why her family didn't accept her the way she was.
➽ I would have loved to rate this higher, but I had some issues! Firstly, it was so hard to read about Mariel's family constantly verbally abusing and manipulating her. Her mother's relentless and Mariel doesn't push back, because she has internalized that she's a failure and will never amount to anything. I understood Mariel's complicated feelings toward her mother, but I thought her mother got off way too easily in the end. After all this buildup, the toxic family dynamic was magically resolved. Mariel's mother didn't really have a change of heart or work for forgiveness, she's suddenly all nice because it suits her. I was also disappointed by the third-act breakup as Mariel was unfair to Ozroth! I
Graphic: Sexual content and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Gore and Gaslighting
Minor: Death
btwnprintedpgs's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Gore, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Drug use, Pregnancy, and Death
wilybooklover's review against another edition
2.0
Both of the main characters felt quite two-dimensional and lacking in depth. Mariel even reminded me of a teenager at times. The secondary characters were even more shallow and felt like caricatures or cardboard cut-outs. I found myself unable to become immersed in the story because it just felt noticeably fake, especially with respect to the dialogue. The humour was more cringe and juvenile than actually funny and the third-act breakup was incredibly unnecessary given the conflict and drama already happening in the last third of the book. There were also a lot of editing mistakes (like, several per chapter) — things like missing punctuation, words smashed together, and uncapitalised names/places. I expect better editing from a traditionally published book. [This is for the UK digital version.]
Graphic: Gaslighting, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Animal death, Death, and Violence
Minor: Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Cancer, and Classism
flyingryndeer's review
- 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? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Sexual content and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Violence and Death
xapoptosisx's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Child abuse
Minor: Cancer, Alcohol, Death, Violence, Bullying, and Death of parent
alastaire's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content
Moderate: Animal death and Death
Minor: Classism, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, and Drug abuse
Main character's narcissistic mother is highly verbally emotionally abusive and manipulative.headinthepages's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.5
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Abandonment, Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Drug use, and Sexual content