Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske

215 reviews

miaaa_lenaaa's review

adventurous mysterious 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

3.5

I am conflicted, i liked some parts and some of the character building was fun but i have various issues
I didnt like the pacing (150 pages of uh oh a curse lets take a train to yours where we fail to do anything effective 30 pages of smut 2 pages of oh look i solved the curse weve been trying to solve thats fun 40 pretty predictable -but also stupid- pages of plot and then a nice 5 pages of smut to finish it off)
I dont feel like the magic system and world was really fleshed out? I dont really understand the rules and boundaries? The three families in england thing? What if your family moved there after?
And it feels odd to me to read queer MM smut written by a woman, like idk?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Murder

ghostinthewall's review

adventurous hopeful mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Blood, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

unsuccessfulbookclub's review

adventurous emotional mysterious 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

The world Marske built here is really fascinating and I loved the yearning and slooooowwww emotional build up between Edwin and Robin. The magic is cool and the mystery is even cooler. I am excited to read the rest of the series!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Homophobia

meredithnudo's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Torture, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Outing, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

howeonearth's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

oakidoki's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

I absolutely loved this book - I am writing this review after finishing the whole series (3 books in total). The writing is wonderful and the pacing is so good. The characters and the world made me absolutely fall in love with this series and author - quickly becoming one of my all time favourites. 
This book is not for the faint of heart - the sex scenes go into a lot of detail but never in a vulgar way, they are intimate and soft even if they are intense. 
Highly recommend but especially for queer adults looking for something that’s well written and not YA.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Sexual content

Moderate: Violence and Classism

aseel_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious slow-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

So for parts of this, I was just giggling, so many cute moments. Other parts wanted me to throw hands, especially when Edwin was at his family's house

kill his siblings and their friends, so yucky they were

 

I hope we get a little gang of

the sisters and the boys, people of colour and the gays!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Sexism, and Sexual content

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Cursing

oxfordcommas91's review

adventurous emotional mysterious 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

I thoroughly enjoyed this magical queer romantasy where both of our male main characters are a bit posh and a bit snarky, and totally falling for each other even when they don’t want to admit it. It’s a little bit Bridgerton meets what I feel like grown up Harry Potter might be like if JK Rowling wasn’t a TERF. 

You can really lose yourself in this book and the author’s winding beautiful prose that Marske creates for her readers.  It wasn’t a “fast” read for me but that was okay. It was a book I was more than content to take my time with - to really sit and dig my teeth into this one. The payoff was well worth it.

Thoughtful plot and magic system - the author takes good care to make sure that this book doesn’t fall into silly trope territory. 

The romance element of this book doesn’t show up for a while, but when it does, you just want to sigh and clutch your heart (and then maybe your pearls because the spice is the sort of detailed and intricate that makes even a grown woman blush just a bit…). But really, I was head over heels for these two British boys who never really found a place to call home until they found each other. Like all other aspects of her book, the romance was beautifully woven and believable. 

I am looking forward to reading  more by Marske. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Stalking

mirandyli's review

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

Pretty mediocre story about two queer white men in historical England dealing with magical realism. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

aleareads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny inspiring mysterious tense slow-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

4.5

This is a wonderful blend of historical fantasy and romance!! I absolutely love the Edwardian England setting, I fell in love with the characters as their depth was revealed throughout the story, and the writing that ties it all together is incredible. Seriously, the prose is ahh-mazing! Not only is the banter delightful, but I love how serious topics are explored and handled as well. 

But my favorite part by far is the magic system and world building!! There’s something so classic and nostalgic about the magic they use, and I absolutely love how the theory behind it is explored. 

Thrilling and tense as well heartwarming and steamy scenes are blended throughout the overarching mystery to create a genre defying story that I could not put down by the end! I am excited to continue the series. 

I highly recommend if you love: 

✨ magic 

🔥 slow burns 

🕰️ genre blending 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Bullying

Minor: Homophobia, Suicide, Violence, and Death of parent