Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

A Far Wilder Magic by Allison Saft

20 reviews

hue's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Animal cruelty, Violence, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Sexual content, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, and Animal death

Moderate: Child death, Death, and Death of parent

samflowerv6's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

I fell in love with Wes & Margaret as individual characters and together. Allison Saft's prose is poetic and is saturated with mystical imagery.
The was uniquely beautiful and mysterious. If you like A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid, I am certain this will hit in a similar way. I love grumpy sunshine when the boy is sunshine. They are just perfect to me. Creatures with glowing eyes in the dark, alchemy, trauma, lonely seaside manor and prejudice are some main points in the story. An overall beautiful tale of finding the people who love you as you truly are and believe in your future.

“When she looks like this, flushed and hazy and haloed by the moon, he truly can believe God exists, and her name is Margaret Welty.” '

“In the dim porchlight, she looks like something out of a poem he read in school before he dropped out.” 

“How many times will she watch someone leave this place and never look back, while she is left here like a ghost to haunt it?” 

“Weston, with his foppish hair and calculating smile 

“If he can’t grieve his father or his impossible dreams without hurting his family or himself, what other choice does he have but to keep things light? To dazzle people so they can’t look for the cracks? He’s survived this long by letting everyone believe he’s selfish and shallow. It’s better that way. No one knows how to hurt you if you always play the fool.” 

“Love is not the sharp-edged thing she's always believed it to be. It's not like the sea, liable to slip through her fingers if she holds on too tight. It's not a currency, something to be earned or denied or bartered for. Love can be steadfast. It can be certain and safe, or as wild as an open flame.” 

“But if lust is so perverse, why would God make girls” 

“There are punishments far worse than being struck. To be forsaken and unloved - that is the worst fate of all.” 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Bullying, and Cursing

Moderate: Abandonment, Animal death, Blood, and Gun violence

Minor: Sexual content, Alcohol, and Death

edamamebean's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective 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

4.75

Wow, wow, wow I really loved this book. I truly did not want it to end, and I will be reading all of Allison Saft’s other books. I honestly think this would make a perfect Studio Ghibli movie—it’s so atmospheric and the characters are lovable. The only reason I haven’t rated this book 5 stars is because it becomes kind of clear while reading that their world is analogous of our own. The religions are sloppily painted over versions of Protestantism, Judaism, and Catholicism and the result was kind of jarring to read. Not only was it confusing, but it was also a little frustrating that the mental labor was put on me as the reader to fall back on my own knowledge of world religions instead of on her as the author to create a world that was unique to the story. That being said, I understand what she was trying to say about anti-immigrant and antisemitism in America and I can appreciate it. It’s easy to forgive when the rest of this book was an absolute delight. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Gun violence, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Violence, Religious bigotry, Grief, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Child death, Alcohol, and Abandonment

alexijai98's review

adventurous dark reflective tense 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

Solid YA romantasy! Give me more stories with a scary girl and her sad wet bf! 

Be warned, this is definitely a ROMANtasy. The fantasy aspects are throughout the whole book, but the action mostly revolves around the protagonists’ romance - which I didn’t mind because I loved them both! Reading this made me feel fuzzy inside, the way it felt to read a stunning fanfiction back in 2014 (you know the ones with the titles in all lowercase, don’t pretend not to!). There is also some heavy-hitting Mommy Issue content in here that had my feeling some kind of way, so keep that in mind!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Religious bigotry, Violence, Alcohol, Xenophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Child death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Abandonment, Animal death, Classism, and Death of parent

Moderate: Colonisation

bohemianhermit04's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Antisemitism, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Death of parent, Sexual content, and Alcohol

blackcatkai's review against another edition

emotional hopeful tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

CW: animal death on page (especially in regards to hunting), child death mentioned, gun violence, abandonment, gore, body horror, death, racism, classism, some sexual content, antisemitism, emotional abuse from a parent, blood, injury/wounds (animals & people), nationalism, xenophobia, ptsd & mental illness, alcohol, grief

this was such a cute, sweet, slow burn romance with a bit of magic thrown in. it's written beautifully while also dealing with quite a few heavy topics. I loved it and would absolutely read from Saft again!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Xenophobia, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Alcohol, Antisemitism, and Death

Moderate: Body horror, Gun violence, Grief, Mental illness, Abandonment, Violence, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Sexual content and Ableism

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

guessgreenleaf's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Xenophobia, Sexual content, Violence, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Abandonment

Minor: Alcohol, Child death, and Death of parent

pointeshoebookworm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

0.5

. . . I still don't know what to even think about this book . . . 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Gore, Religious bigotry, Violence, Abandonment, Bullying, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Sexual content, Animal death, Child death, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Alcohol and Emotional abuse