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bea_reads_books's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Violence, Grief, and Alcohol
Minor: Death of parent
tifftastic87's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
First off, this book needs content warnings (I know they're below but they need to be here too).
⚠️ Self-harm (cutting)
When presented with her destiny as a human sacrifice, Redarys appears to take it on the chin. Really she's hiding from magic that wants to consume her. Eammon, the Wolf, is Warden of the Wilderwood where Red is destined for. But the Wilderwood is dying and Eammon is determined to save and Red and he is not accepting applications for assistants.
Supposedly, this is a Beauty and the Beast retelling, but I fail to see it. The only similarities is a curse that makes the town think a man is a monster and love breaking that curse. The two main characters are both stubborn martyrs and that is where most of the conflict comes from. If they could be honest and communicate from the beginning things would have been better. But the main story is politics and religion.
The actual plot of the story, which is shadowed a bit by the romance plot, is one of religious fanaticism that is actually really well done. There's a dark versus light magic trope used where the religious use the dark magic and are out for power. The damn athiests only wantinf peace, love, and healthy trees.
That being said, the magic system was a little confusing. Its clear that is blood magic but it reacts different in different settings and different people. It isnt predictable unless it is. I would have liked to have seen this worked out a bit better.
Oh ya and the age gap, centuries to 20 years....
⚠️ Self-harm (cutting)
When presented with her destiny as a human sacrifice, Redarys appears to take it on the chin. Really she's hiding from magic that wants to consume her. Eammon, the Wolf, is Warden of the Wilderwood where Red is destined for. But the Wilderwood is dying and Eammon is determined to save and Red and he is not accepting applications for assistants.
Supposedly, this is a Beauty and the Beast retelling, but I fail to see it. The only similarities is a curse that makes the town think a man is a monster and love breaking that curse. The two main characters are both stubborn martyrs and that is where most of the conflict comes from. If they could be honest and communicate from the beginning things would have been better. But the main story is politics and religion.
The actual plot of the story, which is shadowed a bit by the romance plot, is one of religious fanaticism that is actually really well done. There's a dark versus light magic trope used where the religious use the dark magic and are out for power. The damn athiests only wantinf peace, love, and healthy trees.
That being said, the magic system was a little confusing. Its clear that is blood magic but it reacts different in different settings and different people. It isnt predictable unless it is. I would have liked to have seen this worked out a bit better.
Oh ya and the age gap, centuries to 20 years....
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Eating disorder, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, and Murder
anniereads221's review against another edition
slow-paced
5.0
Eammon and Red own my whole heart, but not only that i love Lyra and Fife as well, Neve and Raffe were also good but these characters i am so excited to see how they will be in For The Throne.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
chloescozycorner's review against another edition
4.5
I feel like some of the world building could have been tightened up a bit. Also there were moments where the confusion I felt was not caused with a reason, but from lack of clarity in the writing. BUT I loved Red and Eammon. I loved the themes of religion and nature. Loved the eerie vibes, and I was sucked in to all of that. If the first aspects mentioned were tightened up this would be 5 stars for sure.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm and Blood
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
luckylulureads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Self harm, Blood, and Abandonment
Minor: Death of parent and Alcohol
Self harm aspects are not for suicidal reasons but for Magic reasons. Still, it can be hard to read, especially as some characters martyr themselvesnoxernia's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Death of parent
Minor: Self harm, Violence, and Grief
asipofcozy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It's been awhile since I finished a book fully. I have been picking up and putting down so many and honestly this one almost made the pile of books I haven't finished.
I really enjoyed the concept of the book, the magic, the characters and the overall arching theme. However, this is definitely a beauty and the beast retelling rather than the red riding hood that the vibes give. And when I mean you know it's a Beauty and the Beast retelling it's very obvious.
I enjoyed the characters and thought that they added to the story...somewhat. However all the side characters Raffe, Kiri, Neve, Arick, the five kings were just fillers in spaces and didn't have much personality to them.
Then there is the magic system...of which is never fully explained to us. There is a forest that is quite alive but we are never given the backstory on how it came to have magic. Then there is the whole folk lore of the five kings that once again we get very little explanation on, even the character Red keeps asking about this information and isn't given it!
Then you have the dual POV's with the sisters and I was not interested in Neve what so ever. The time gaps in this book and the jumping around created a lot of plot confusion (of which I felt like there was at least 3 different plot lines going on at once). However, Neve is well naive. While she does love her sister she only cares about herself and her own decisions and while I get she wants to save her sister she is blinded by everything.
In the end, I did enjoy some aspects of the book but wasn't totally won over by it. However, I would be interested to see Neve's development in For the Throne.
I really enjoyed the concept of the book, the magic, the characters and the overall arching theme. However, this is definitely a beauty and the beast retelling rather than the red riding hood that the vibes give. And when I mean you know it's a Beauty and the Beast retelling it's very obvious.
I enjoyed the characters and thought that they added to the story...somewhat. However all the side characters Raffe, Kiri, Neve, Arick, the five kings were just fillers in spaces and didn't have much personality to them.
Then there is the magic system...of which is never fully explained to us. There is a forest that is quite alive but we are never given the backstory on how it came to have magic. Then there is the whole folk lore of the five kings that once again we get very little explanation on, even the character Red keeps asking about this information and isn't given it!
Then you have the dual POV's with the sisters and I was not interested in Neve what so ever. The time gaps in this book and the jumping around created a lot of plot confusion (of which I felt like there was at least 3 different plot lines going on at once). However, Neve is well naive. While she does love her sister she only cares about herself and her own decisions and while I get she wants to save her sister she is blinded by everything.
In the end, I did enjoy some aspects of the book but wasn't totally won over by it. However, I would be interested to see Neve's development in For the Throne.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Self harm, Blood, and Death of parent
hales_1243's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Blood, and Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual content
mckiheather's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Interesting retelling of the Red Riding Hood story. The elements of the familiar story were there but didn’t overtake the original parts that made it so engaging and new.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Gore, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Suicide, Torture, Vomit, and Suicide attempt
whatiskatelynreading's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Death of parent