Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske

29 reviews

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

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

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

kimzeyk's review

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

I had trouble keeping the two MCs straight - I was constantly going back to check who said that.  I liked the story, but it was more sexually explicit than I expected.  Didn’t enjoy it enough to continue with the sequels.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

emily_mh's review

emotional lighthearted mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.25

This book is what a true romantasy looks like for me. So often books are called romantasies when really they’re romances with a fantasy backdrop, or fantasies with a romantic element. A Marvellous Light is a book where one genre is given just as much weight as the other: the story is guided as much by classic romance-genre beats as it is by a thick, mysterious fantasy plot. I found this deeply enjoyable, as while I love a good queer romance, having a separate but relevant fantasy plot kept me fully engaged.

The romance was gorgeous. Robin and Edwin’s physical chemistry was palpable from their first meeting, but this was not to the detriment of their emotional chemistry. The slow, tentative path both men took to true vulnerability was lovely to read. I came away from the book with a full understanding of why Robin and Edwin fell for one other and why they loved each other. This may sound silly to say about a romance book, but I often find that authors don’t properly convey this in their romance plots and books. The romance here also had one of my favourite tropes: where the MCs have to live together because of x reason. The kinds of interactions this leads to are so fun to see play out.

On the other hand we have the fantasy storyline. I was greatly entertained by this, although I do have a couple of criticisms. What I really liked was that there was so much mystery. Robin and Edwin stumble upon and become entangled in a nefarious plot which they know nothing about, and want nothing to do with, but must get to the bottom of to save Robin’s life. Consequently, there’s a lot of researching and investigating, which was thrilling for me. The magical world that Robin and Edwin inhabit had quite a unique magic system. I could easily picture the system of cradling in my head, it being similar to the string games I played as a kid. It was really fun imagining how the movements looked, and what movements might set what spell boundary. I will say that it sometimes felt like the magic system had been written for the story, and not the story for the magical system, if that makes sense; like the way magic worked was at times too convenient.

One other criticism I had was that the characters would discuss the magical world and all these interesting magical places, but for the most part this book was set not at them but at country manors, which while magical, didn’t pique my interest in the same way. I think more variety of place would have done this book some good. Having said that, I don’t think the monotonous setting of the second book (a ship on the Atlantic) will bother me, as I find overnight transportation fascinating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Murder, and Outing

Minor: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicide, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: gambling, fainting, self-injury

booksthatburn's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Torture, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, and Grief

Minor: Child death, Self harm, Suicide, Vomit, Death of parent, and Alcohol

beepbeep101's review

adventurous 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Torture

Moderate: Cursing, Misogyny, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Death of parent

nic3's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense fast-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

3.75

A good example of the "secret magical parallel society" genre. I appreciate a magic system which has internal logic and was, imo, an original concept with the cradling. The characters were mostly likeable and believable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

bergha1998's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

3.5

I think it’s a lovely story, I just found the pacing a bit off. It took me awhile to really get into it. But as soon as the characters get fleshed out more and the mystery grows it is quite enjoyable. I also didn’t expect so many spicy scenes. 

Fantasy Mystery, MLM Romance, 2 1/2 🔥

“You look like a Turner painting and I want to learn your textures with my fingertips. You are the most fascinating thing in this beautiful house. I’d like to introduce my fists to whoever taught you to stop talking about the things that interest you.”

“I am nothing like you, and yet I feel more myself with you.”

“And I’m sick to death of being afraid, and I want you. Enough to risk it. More than enough. You make me feel like something—extraordinary.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

gondorgirl's review

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Sexual content

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism