Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

A Witch's Guide to Fake Dating a Demon by Sarah Hawley

12 reviews

direguard's review

emotional funny lighthearted relaxing 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Gaslighting

Minor: Blood, Death of parent, Alcohol, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, and Fire/Fire injury

jessthanthree's review

adventurous emotional lighthearted 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Violence, Animal cruelty, Police brutality, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Blood

unsuccessfulbookclub's review

emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Animal death, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Violence and Sexual content

Minor: Death of parent

rickireadss's review

4.25

while it took me a bit (20%ish) to get into it, once i was in i was IN. i really liked the dynamic between mariel and ozroth and getting to see them both grow individually throughout the book. i also really enjoyed both the smut and how the story eventually ended. i feel like some endings lately in the paranormal romances have fell flat for me, but this one was really good!! i will say - the name ozroth, shortened to oz....??? why was that the final decision for his name bc all i could think of was the wizard of oz :/

⚠️: emotional abuse, bullying, gaslighting, toxic relationship, animal death, fire/fire injury, police brutality, death of parent

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Death of parent, Police brutality, and Fire/Fire injury

zoeblair17's review

emotional funny 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

3.5

This was a super fun, witchy, cute love story. It sets the scene for Glimmer Falls well and other stories that may happen there. There’s drama, witty quips, sex, and lots to learn about the magic world. Will I immediately start the book over and read it in 3 days again? Probably not. Will I pick it up next year for a light hearted Halloween-y read? Yup.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Sexual content

Minor: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, and Pregnancy

midnacine's review

adventurous funny lighthearted 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

What a delightful read! Engaging plot, lovable characters with realistic arcs, cozy setting and world-building, funny banter, and overall just really fun and enjoyable! So glad I took my friend up on the rec, it was 100% worth the full price on Kindle.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Sexual content

Moderate: Gaslighting, Child abuse, Violence, and Classism

Minor: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Fire/Fire injury

katelynnelawson's review against another edition

funny 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

3.5

This was a sweet, fun, and steamy read if imperfect. Mariel is a witch who struggles with magic despite being prophesized as powerful. While she excels at earth magic, her family looks down on it and subsequently her. During a spell gone wrong, she summons Ozroth, a demon. Oz's goal is to make a soul bargain with Mariel. However, bargaining her soul would mean losing her magic and emotions, and as the two grow closer that's not something either of them wants.

Oz is a peculiar demon in that he has a soul after a previous soul bargain gone wrong, meaning he experiences human emotion, something demons look down on. Given this and his community's need for a powerful soul like Mariel's, there is just as much incentive for him to bargain for her soul as there is top keep her safe. Meanwhile, Mariel's beloved forest is rapidly decaying while her mother and the major of Glimmer Falls plot to build a spa there, two things Mariel and her friends desperately want to stop.

This is an enjoyable read, though the toxic relationship between Mariel and her mother - a major plot point - is a bit harrowing. Some of the language used not just by Mariel's mother but her friend regarding Mariel's "dry spell" feels reductive - cleaning cobwebs from the vagina, good dick being motivation. It's frustrating in the third act how quickly Mariel believes Oz, whom she loves, could be duping her, but also makes sense given her frustrating relationship with her family. Ultimately it's a fun and sexy love story, and the world-building is whimsical and interesting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Toxic friendship and Blood

Minor: Animal death and Death of parent

makenna_reads's review against another edition

adventurous funny 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

wilybooklover's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

2.0

This was an intriguing premise that had a lot of potential, but sadly fell a bit flat for me.

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.] 

There were a few plus points, however. I enjoyed the world-building, which was fun and detailed without being overexplained. The plant magic/affinity was especially nice; I loved how Mariel’s plants would comfort her. I loved that Mariel was plus-size but there was no plot point or issues surrounding it; she just was. 

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Content Warnings

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

xapoptosisx's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.75

I absolutely loved this book it is heartfelt, funny with great dialogue, plant magic and an amazing demon. All the characters are great and mariels character development was really nice to read. But yeah great book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Child abuse

Minor: Cancer, Alcohol, Death, Violence, Bullying, and Death of parent