Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske

38 reviews

kathyq10's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful 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? No

4.25

Absolutely loved this! Really beautiful prose and MUCH better written than a lot of romance I’ve read which is huge for me. The world building is a little weak (still not sure what their magic system is or how it works really; it’s all very vague) but the characters are wonderful and the plot is pretty engaging so I didn’t mind. Great ratio of smut to romance to actual plot development. Spice level is maybe 3.5/5 and the relationship that develops is really lovely. Highly recommend and can’t wait to dive into the rest of the series!!

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cowardlyteaman's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0


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raineydayreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

I don't even know where to begin. Beautiful prose. Beautiful characters. Beautiful story. 10/10 no notes.

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lethargicbumblebee's review

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

3.75

The book is more about the romance than the supposed plot. The plot ("the contract") seems underdeveloped when it does come up. I enjoyed it pretty well until two thirds of the way through and then the book decided it needed to justify the plot with a bunch of stuff that didn't fully make sense/pay off. Also, unrelated to anything else I've said here, but this book is so transparently Harry Potter fanfiction with a few key words/phrases find and replaced. Which actually didn't bother me at all, it was just hilarious how certain aspects of the world building ("coopers") weren't even explained because it was just like--you get it. You know Harry Potter, you see what we're doing here, no need to actually pretend this is its own thing. That was funny.

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asipofcozy's review

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adventurous challenging emotional 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? Yes

4.0

I was quickly enraptured into A Marvelous Light. The story-telling, the magic system, even the characters and their complex backgrounds astounded me. 

I loved how intricate and unique the magic system was. Basing the magic around cradles (a Childs game with string) and intricate hand moments and just the fact that the magic itself was quite complex. Not being able to use magic outside of a "contract", how humans are affected by magics and their contracts, and how there is a limit to the use. 

I will say that at times, we needed more explanation on the magic system. It took me awhile to put together that the magic was using cradles to facilitate an action. Also, we were given information about the magic system quite late into the book, which would have helped explain a lot of moments and discussions that were had between the characters. 

To quickly mention the writing style. The setting of this book is 1908 English and the author does a great job at portraying proper English of that particular time. That being said it felt jarring at times. Sometimes the sentences were quite strange and there were phrases that stuck out that I had no clue to the meaning. It's not necessarily a bad thing. It just took a moment to get into the writing style and the "proper" English of the time period. However, the first 50 pages were headache inducing.

The plot also had a lot of twists and turns. Moments that you thought were giving away parts of the plot only to find out you were quite wrong. There were a few moments that I was right in my assumptions but the whole mystery aspect - most of my guesses were wrong in that respect.

And then there was our beloved characters Robin and Edwin. Out of the two, I feel like Edwin had the most growth and that Robin was there to help him with that growth. When reading Edwin's backstory, the abuse that he faced and continues to face, and his fear of getting hurt - all I wanted to do was give him a big ole hug. He hides behind books and reason - while useful can leave you sheltered from the world and emotions...which he reflects on quite a lot. Robin had some development and had moments of privilege that he also acknowledges as fault.

The chemistry those two had, had me at the seat of my chair for a majority of the book (just saying).

I am definitely looking forward to picking up the rest of the series!

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indiaaaa's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious 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? No

5.0

Come for the mystery, stay for the romance. It does take a little while for things to get going in both departments but once things happen, you can’t put it down. 

I would say that the romance is a larger focus than the mystery. There are times when nothing in progressing with the mystery because the chemistry is building between them. Just know that going in. 

EDIT: After reading some other books that either have a great romance and a lackluster plot or a great plot with a lackluster romance, I do thing that A Marvelous Light does actually have a pretty good balance of an engaging plot alongside a strong romance…even if the sex scenes happen at in opportune moments (I.e. right after an intense, life-threatening moment)

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embarcaderosky's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful lighthearted fast-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

4.25


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frankieclc's review against another edition

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2.5


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hannahrogers's review

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adventurous emotional 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

4.75


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jem_carstairs's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

4.25


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