Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Fate of Stars by S.D. Simper

8 reviews

wildatheart1339's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, Kidnapping, and Confinement

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Violence, Death, Infertility, Blood, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Alcohol, Incest, Rape, Medical content, Mental illness, Suicide, Vomit, War, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Homophobia, Slavery, Death of parent, Excrement, and Infidelity

the_lesbrarian's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.75

This book was so fun! Morally gray butch lesbian princess x mermaid love story. 
This is a very romance-heavy romantasy. Due to my personal reading preferences, I wish it was longer and more time had been given to development of the political and magic systems. 
There are some big skips in logic, plot holes, and a very simple solution to the big problem that the book ends on,

i am really not understanding why she couldn’t just live on land and then meet with her mother/undersea friends  by having them swim to the cove and then hanging out with them from the land like she discussed doing with the princess but with talora underwater. this reads like the fantasy equivalent of the romance third act miscommunication to breakup trope

so don’t pick this one up if you’re someone who can’t look past that. 
That being said, I really enjoyed this book and will be reading the next one. This is a wild ride and a sweet romance in a fantasy setting turn your brain off & enjoy 

also how insane it it that she was able to sneak out of the castle by wearing the in-world equivalent of those spirit halloween sexy nun outfits. hysterical and fantastic

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Animal death, Sexual violence, and Sexual content

Moderate: Rape, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Death, Sexual content, Alcohol, Classism, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Torture, Blood, Infertility, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, and Self harm

quechaya's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Confinement, Sexual harassment, and Torture

Moderate: Sexual assault, Slavery, Classism, Physical abuse, and Rape

Minor: Blood, Animal death, Trafficking, Incest, and Physical abuse

Don't read if you are sensitive to Stockholm syndrome. MC is forced to become a courtesan/prostitute, is ultimately never sexually assaulted but it is a very real possibility and there are multiple "close calls"

zoloft_lesbian's review against another edition

tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death of parent, Incest, Infertility, Animal death, Blood, Confinement, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, and Vomit

randirush's review against another edition

adventurous fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, and Kidnapping

Minor: Rape

raizca's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-paced

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

2.5

I can't with the stockholm syndrome. Some tropes should just die.
For those who don't care for that, it's a solid reading. 
The world building is cool and fascinating, but wasted on the romance plot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

ezwolf's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Body shaming, Chronic illness, Suicide, and Infertility

Minor: Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Incest, Death of parent, and Blood

house_of_hannah's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

I have such mixed emotions over this book, as it is quite problematic. The relationship between the princess and the mermaid really should not happen. It says in the description that the mermaid was kidnapped, but I thought that meant she was already a prisoner in the palace, and not

forcefully pulled from the ocean by the princess and forced into captivity by her.

It only get worse from there with the princess

torturing the mermaid with starvation, and only viewing her as an animal. The verbal abuse is harsh, but then I felt queasy when the Empress, the princess' mother, actually has the mermaid's tail mutilated.

How is this supposed to turn into a love story from here ?

There's a side character that I actually rather like, and seems to be based off of a Tiefling from D&D; at least that is definitely how I viewed her. She is the only voice of reason in this story, and even says this to the princess, "

she is your prisoner. She cannot consent to you. She would reject you at risk of castigation or worse, but should she say yes, it is more likely out of fear than sincerity, given her new duties in this castle. You do not even know her name because it is all she has left. You and your family have taken everything else. The power imbalance is sickening, and you would be dishonorable to exploit her.

" Exactly ! This book is very self aware, which leaves me confused. 

There was one point where I was very close to DNFing this book. The story takes a very stereotypical turn when

the Empress decides that the mermaid is going to be a courtesan. Ambassador's from another country are visiting, and she is sent to "service" the one in charge. She is taken to a room where sexual acts are being performed everywhere. Her clothes are removed, she is groped, and I really thought that she was going to be raped. I was so angry, but luckily something happens so that she escapes the situation.

With all of this happening, I was actually pleasantly surprised by the writting. I did encounter several typos, but nothing that really took my out of the story. The actual romance between the mermaid and princess was also cute, but I had to ignore everything that had previously happened to enjoy it. I was also intrigued by the politics between countries and their dieties, and felt invested in the story. This is why I feel so conflicted, and will not be giving this a rating. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Torture, Slavery, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, and Confinement

Moderate: Trafficking, Animal death, Blood, Murder, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Racism, and Self harm

Minor: Vomit and Death of parent