Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske

126 reviews

_isabel_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

4.75

This was, pun intended, utterly marvellous.

Edwin and Robin are brilliant protagonists in an even more brilliant, gorgeous and riveting story. This is a seriously impressive debut for Freya Marske and I can't believe it took me so much time to finally start this.

The writing was a biiiiit fussy at times (and a tiny bit hard to follow), so that's the only reason this isn't a full five star rating. I got used to it fairly quickly though, and I can now appreciate how stunning and poetic Marske's writing is: emotionally charged, powerful and deeply vivid.

The world building, the historical setting, the magic system, the whole plot of this brilliant book were utterly masterful: I was so damn impressed with how clever everything was.
"A Marvellous Light" was a fantasy, a historical romance and a murder mystery all in one: I absolutely adored following Robin and Edwin on their wild, magical quest around the English countryside. Murderous mazes and murderous dinner parties, sentient houses and horrible families, secretive, magical societies and world-ending conspiracies... this story was truly spectacular, and addictive.

Both Robin and Edwin are unforgettable protagonists and I adored them to bits. Robin, in particular, was my absolute favourite: I fell for him from the very start and literally ten pages in, I was quite ready to take up arms in his name. 
As individuals, they're opposites in so many ways, but ugh, they fit together so perfectly. Prickly, brilliant, frosty Edwin, with his deep insecurities and his fears, and generous, brave and wonderful Robin, with his glorious muscles and his even more glorious heart: both of them were fantastic, individually, but together they were a force to be reckoned with. Their chemistry, their slowly growing relationship, from antagonism to friendship to kinship to love,  everything about them was wonderful and precisely why I keep returning to romances, time and time again.

I absolutely adored every single one of the side characters too: from the very wild, very lovable Maud to practical and brilliant Adelaide, to Flora and Kitty and the mysterious, and seemingly cruel, Hawthorn; every single one of them were unforgettable in their own right, and I cannot wait to discover more of them, and of the overreaching plot. 

I'm excited to jump into "A Ruthless Truth"! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Violence, Death of parent, and Child abuse

canopicfemme's review against another edition

5.0

this was so wonderful

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Bullying

Moderate: Murder, Death, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Homophobia

mossgoblins's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

4.5

This was a lovely read! Great plot, complex, easily lovable characters, and a very interesting development of the magic system!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Blood, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Death, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Child death, Outing, Suicide attempt, Kidnapping, Classism, Suicide, Homophobia, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Death of parent, and Misogyny

rtaire's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, and Bullying

Moderate: Death, Murder, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Death of parent and Homophobia

northernfleabag's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Murder, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Kidnapping

wilybooklover's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

5.0

What an absolutely gorgeous novel. The writing and imagery were really evocative, so rich and lush in a way befitting the lavish vibe of the Edwardian era when this book is set. 

Sir Robin Blyth, a civil servant, discovers a hidden world of magic when he gets transferred to a new job and then unwittingly gets cursed and dragged into a magical conspiracy involving his predecessor. His magical liaison, Edwin Courcey, doesn’t like him much but is determined to lift the curse. 

Robin is basically a golden retriever in human form (with a little dash of himbo) so he takes the existence of magic and even his curse with remarkable equanimity. Edwin is much more prickly and anxious (understandably so, once you meet his family) and likes to retreat into books. Despite their differences, they really understand each other and their growing romance was such a delight to read. Edwin learning to trust someone other than himself and Robin reaching for a future he wanted was so heartwarming to read. And this book was way steamier than I expected it to be. There is a love scene involving magic that is HOT. I don’t normally like the third-act conflict (big understatement) but here it really works with the characters and story — they really needed that short time apart. 

The worldbuilding in this was utterly fascinating. You have rune curses, magical houses, enchanted libraries, murderous hedge mazes, a style of magic based on cat’s cradle... I’ve never read anything quite like it before. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Death, Violence, Bullying, and Torture

Moderate: Misogyny, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Homophobia, Outing, Classism, Murder, Kidnapping, and Blood

Minor: Suicide, Grief, Racism, and Death of parent

lindseyhall44's review against another edition

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

It is the absolute best feeling in the world to be reading a book and loose track of time.  A Marvelous Light swept me up in its magic and love story, until I had finished the book in a matter of hours.
A Marvelous Light follows Robin Blythe, a man struggling to balance the conflicts in his life, as he is thrown into a world o magic he never knew existed. With the help of magician (and kind of enemy?) Edwin, the two must undercover the source of danger for Robin, as well as magicians everywhere.
This novel was the historical fantasy I never knew I needed. I adored the Edwardian England setting  with the magical undertones. The writing was also phenomenal, and it flowed well with the pacing of the story.
That being said, I do wish the love story was a bit more developed, but that is just a personal preference:)
Overall, I would highly recommend to anyone interested (though as always, check trigger warnings before reading).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Torture, Trafficking, Death, Bullying, and Suicide

Moderate: Ableism and Racism

aileron's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Bullying

Moderate: Death of parent, Violence, Chronic illness, and Death

Minor: Suicide, Murder, and Racism

imds's review against another edition

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Death, Murder, Death of parent, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

Moderate: Racism

city_girl_writer's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

Upon further reflection, I am not sure how I feel about this book. Please take this review with a grain of salt. I read this rather quickly, so I have very little in-depth opinions. I enjoy it for what it was. I am not sure if I will continue on, but I wouldn't mind picking up the audiobook for the sequel. I kinda wanna reread it so that I could better follow along with the mystery aspects of the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse

Minor: Homophobia and Death of parent