Reviews tagging 'Blood'

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske

82 reviews

booksncats_mec's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Bullying and Blood

kain47's review

adventurous hopeful lighthearted medium-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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Bullying, Death, Misogyny, Blood, and Murder

im_john_laurens's review

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Blood, and Murder

sadetanssija'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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Outing, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

readwithria's review against another edition

emotional funny 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? It's complicated

3.5

A Marvelous Light was a mixed bag for me. 

This book felt so slow. It took me days and days and days to get through the first ~65%, and then less than 24 hours to read the last third. I wanted to love this book so much, but the whole stint at Edwin’s family home felt like it took an age to read.

I really enjoyed the romance aspect of the book, and the final third was quite interesting. That being said, it wasn’t enough to save the book for me. If I do read the rest of this series, it will be from the library. 3.5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Sexism, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Death, Homophobia, and Death of parent

katte's review

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? Yes

5.0

The character’s description of love and devotion is heart-wrenching and enough on its own to make you swoon or tear up!

The beginning is a touch confusing given the way you are dumped into the story, but it makes sense very quickly once you get your feet under you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement

Moderate: Blood, Murder, and Gaslighting

Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Self harm, and Death of parent

kaneebli's review against another edition

funny mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual content

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

Minor: Racism, Death of parent, Alcohol, 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

melshoo's review

adventurous 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: Sexual content

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Death, Homophobia, and Sexism