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alliewithredhair's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
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
4.0
Overall, I really really enjoyed this book, and would definitely recommend it! It almost felt like a humorless, detached, non-episodic “Over the Garden Wall” with a Beauty and the Beast-esque storyline. It’s also a super easy and fast read without sacrificing quality!
I know some people have said they didn’t like the characters, but I absolutely loved them! The only thing for me, is that the pacing is a little all over the place, and that made the first half of the book and second half feel a little disjointed. That being said, it was still super captivating and hauntingly beautiful!
<spoiler below!>
Would the book have ended a lot stronger if it had committed to the tragic ending? Yes. However I was too relieved with the last second happy ending to really care ;)
I know some people have said they didn’t like the characters, but I absolutely loved them! The only thing for me, is that the pacing is a little all over the place, and that made the first half of the book and second half feel a little disjointed. That being said, it was still super captivating and hauntingly beautiful!
<spoiler below!>
Would the book have ended a lot stronger if it had committed to the tragic ending? Yes. However I was too relieved with the last second happy ending to really care ;)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Blood, War, and Murder
damen_ever's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Death, and Death of parent
madarauchiha's review
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
0.25
❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜 my about / byf / CW info carrd: uchiha-madara 💜 💙 💚 💛 🧡 ❤️
I don't like how the female mc is, like, becoming tamed and civilized and more human. This feels like a very gross born sexy yesterday trope. and I hate it. I genuinely hate that the female mc is useless and the male mc has to tell her she can do things and be her own person and etc etc. like we get it author, you hate feminism and independent women. It's not that every story has to have perfect, flawless characterization and rep. It's that it's not even done well, in this book. Seren doesn't feel like she has an impulsion on her own. She defies her family but she needs the male MC to tell her it's ok to do this. It's just so irritating how useless she is.
Oh, and
the way the
Seren character
speaks
is irritatingly
formatted.
That the pacing
the pacing
is super
slow
super slow
doesn't help
this.
What I liked is the concept of the plot, how something traumatic happens and it's not glossed over or romanticized, and that the book finally fucking ended. That's about it.
The villains feel comical and nonsensical. Not necessarily a bad thing, I guess, since this is YA genre. But it definitely feels aimed towards 10-15 yo children. If you're older than that, please temper your expectations.
I genuinely hate that there's a single token Black character. God, why did you bother if you're not going to give him a decent backstory, a culture, a personality beyond only helping the mc.
I don't like how the female mc is, like, becoming tamed and civilized and more human. This feels like a very gross born sexy yesterday trope. and I hate it. I genuinely hate that the female mc is useless and the male mc has to tell her she can do things and be her own person and etc etc. like we get it author, you hate feminism and independent women. It's not that every story has to have perfect, flawless characterization and rep. It's that it's not even done well, in this book. Seren doesn't feel like she has an impulsion on her own. She defies her family but she needs the male MC to tell her it's ok to do this. It's just so irritating how useless she is.
Oh, and
the way the
Seren character
speaks
is irritatingly
formatted.
That the pacing
the pacing
is super
slow
super slow
doesn't help
this.
What I liked is the concept of the plot, how something traumatic happens and it's not glossed over or romanticized, and that the book finally fucking ended. That's about it.
The villains feel comical and nonsensical. Not necessarily a bad thing, I guess, since this is YA genre. But it definitely feels aimed towards 10-15 yo children. If you're older than that, please temper your expectations.
I genuinely hate that there's a single token Black character. God, why did you bother if you're not going to give him a decent backstory, a culture, a personality beyond only helping the mc.
- "Baines has dark brown skin, and is built like a bear, ridiculously strong from a lifetime working his parents’ farm."
This is the token black character btw. He's darkskinned, extremely muscular, and works on a farm. I'm so surprised the author didn't go for other racist stereotypes, like having him enjoy large, red fleshed, green skinned fruit, or singing religious songs. Too on the nose, author?
People [and the author] compared this to 'Beauty and the Beast' and I gotta disagree. Just because a human fell in love with a inhuman monster doesn't mean it's 'BatB'. I could very easily say oh, this is 'The Shape of the Water [2017]' except on land and it'b be just as true as people calling this a 'BatB' retelling. You gotta do more than a single similar plot point. Unless you're telling me the King Elnon [sp??] fell in love with a 17 yo boy child and he's the Gaston of this 'BatB' version?? I.... bitch.... :/ no.
I don't understand how a war fighting scene can be so boring. I think the problem is that the writing is constantly minimalistic [a la Seren's sections] so when the author tries to convey brief depicts of something shocking, it doesn't pop. There's no contrast between the shocking imagery and the rest of the scene.
I want to commit violence either on the author or the editor or in general for how poorly this is formatted. This could have been thirty chapters shorter if it weren't
for
typing
like
this
constantly
and
its
so
fucking
annoying.
stop.
the writing feels like
shitty
tumblr poets
ripping
off rupi
kaur
poems.
Content warnings:
medium guns / gun violence
major child abuse, torture, body horror, gore, murder, medical abuse, experimentation, torture, train accident / train derailment, death, parental death,
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Gun violence
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