Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

A Far Wilder Magic by Allison Saft

49 reviews

u_0's review against another edition

I really loved the atmospheric writing of the first few chapters but once the plot started going it fell apart for me. Mostly, I think I don't enjoy YA anymore and I didn't know this was YA before reading. It was also surprising religious? I really liked the way alchemy worked in this world, I'll look for it in other books.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Racism, Bullying, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Mental illness, and Religious bigotry

rachelditty's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

4.0

Read this after Hannah (A Clockwork Reader) talked so highly about it. I really wanted this to be a 5-star read for me, but something about it was lacking, I just can't really put my finger on what. Regardless, I thought the story was interesting and the romance was very gripping. Like this a lot!

Some quotes I liked:

"Sometimes, it's hard to believe this house ever held more than one person," (1:33:38).

"Her hand, warm and roughened from work, fits into his like a gramophone needle in the grooves of a record," (8:54:50).

"Or did you always love the memory of him more than you loved the reality of me?" (14:14:54).

"Growing up with you, it felt like starving," (14:15:12).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Hate crime, Xenophobia, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Animal cruelty, Child death, Classism, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Death of parent

lucy_is_reading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Hate crime, Antisemitism, Abandonment, Death of parent, Gun violence, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, and Death

ciwanski's review

adventurous dark emotional lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

This book has been on my tbr for what feels like forever so I’m glad I finally got around to reading it!!

Slow burn enemies to lovers, and the writing of them falling in love with each other was so sweet it actually made my stomach hurt. 

Unfortunately the third act fell a little flat to me. There was so much hype throughout the book about the hunt that when we actually got to that point it felt anticlimactic. I just wish there was more of a lesson learned instead of just a point reiterated? If that makes sense? Like I craved a moment of wonder and clarity for the characters, but instead it all felt a little rushed and vague and more focused on the romance than the plot of anything else to be honest. 

I was also kind of confused on the world building? Very obvious Christian vs Jewish bigotry (just under different names) but then I was so confused on how modern of a world it was? Like there were cars and radios and 1920s style and ways of life but more modern language and behaviors? Definitely Irish/English vibes in there too. Interesting choices.

A fun and easy read though!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Bullying, Abandonment, Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, and Classism

froggydanny's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Hate crime, Animal death, Religious bigotry, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, Sexual content, and Bullying

mad_is_rad's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Gaslighting, Hate crime, and Abandonment

owl_eerie's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

4.0

I'm unsure about this book. I found the characters to be engaging and the storyline both interesting and well-paced. Wes was incredibly frustrating to read at some points, but that made his growth rewarding. Maggie growing past her trauma was well done.

I'm not sure I jive with the author's writing style (a simile or 3 in every paragraph...) but her character work was good. My only real complaint was the lack of grounding in the setting--It was very obviously Jewish/Protestant/Irish Catholic religious strife planted in a post WW1 America, shifted out of plane. Would have enjoyed it to take a firmer step further from known history instead of just... changing names but keeping things like microphones.

Listen to the audiobook; I kind of liked Wes's bad NY/Boston accent.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Animal death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Antisemitism, and Bullying

Moderate: Grief, Xenophobia, and Gore

Minor: Hate crime

areen's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Xenophobia

kate_den_herder's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I picked this up on a whim because the cover was pretty and it sounded like my type of book. I was not disappointed. I love Margaret and Wes. The characters are complex (some more than others) and while the plot was slow to develop, it was nice to just dig into each of the main characters’ heads while they prepare for the hunt. I thought we would get more about the hala- like why it called their names— so I was a bit disappointed there. However I think it makes sense to not explain the hala’s divinity in any way. Overall, a good read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Xenophobia, Bullying, Religious bigotry, and Mental illness

Minor: Child death

Margaret has some undiagnosed PTSD, so there are some flashbacks

k0n0's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring medium-paced

• 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

3.5

New Albion is a Victorian magical England, the author should have called it England. Race and religion play a huge part in this book and as much as I loved the way the author explored these hard concepts in a YA novel the fantasy names could have been dropped. I think just calling the different religions in the book what they were based off would have been helpful. After reading about halfway through I finally pieced it together Yu'adir=Judaism, Sumic=Catholicism, and Katharism=Protestant. The romance was super cute, supportive, there's some spicy inner monolog and satisfying tidbits towards the end. You really root for Wes and Margaret to be happy, ditch her toxic AF mom and grow together. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Religious bigotry, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Self harm

Toxic parent and abandonment of teen child which obviously causes some trauma and a panic disorder. Lots and lots of religious bigotry and racism in this book.