Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske

25 reviews

ruthlessreads's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense 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

5.0

Fun, exciting, and incredibly romantic! This was the romp around Edwardian England I didn’t know I needed. I love Robin & Edwin but especially my sweet boy Edwin, who is just coming into his own power. The magic system was interesting and the plot was both fast-paced and well-written. The mystery of the novel was easy to follow & fun to try to figure out. My favorite thing, however, was the emotional connection between Edwin & Robin 🖤 I really enjoyed watching them fall in love & I can’t wait to see how lovely the next book is! 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Murder

Minor: Alcohol and Homophobia

stardustandrockets's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad 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

5.0

All the stars! Please read this book! It reminds me so much of Deep Magic by Diana Wynne Jones. The magic system is super cool based on Cat's Cradle and once you've spent your magic for the day, that's it; you have to rest it like a muscle.

Robin and Edwin are so loveable and the jock/bookworm vibe they have going sends me!

I literally can't say enough nice things about this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death of parent, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, and Self harm

Minor: Alcohol and Blood

gardensnail's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

This book was lovely. I enjoyed the magic system, though I wish the author had described it a bit more in-depth. Perhaps she will do so later. 

Robin and Edwin are so delightfully posh and I can perfectly visualize them, and their surroundings, easily in my head. This book often comes up in so-called dark academia recommendations, and they could not be more right. I was utterly amused when Robin describes a Morris pattern on the wall, only to look up in my own bedroom and see the same pattern repeated. There was a few twists, but most of the joy I found in this book was knowing that everything was going to work out alright. Sometimes you just need a book with good sex scenes and some fun magic. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol and Violence

A warning that I couldn't tag:

Edwin's family does not treat him well as a weak magician. They bully and chide him and generally make him feel awful. This behavior is not only described in retrospect, but also shown in the present.

maddyj42'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Sexual content

Moderate: Death of parent and Sexism

Minor: Abandonment, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Outing, Physical abuse, and Racism

caseythereader's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

Thanks to Tordotcom for the free advance copy of this book.

 - A MARVELLOUS LIGHT is one half magical murder mystery, one half slow burn queer romance.
- Robin and Edwin are a wonderfully mismatched pair, and the world they inhabit is unlike anything I've read in a long time, with an inventive magic system woven into the structure of Edwardian high society we know.
- I did feel like it dragged quite a bit, unfortunately: there necessarily needed to be a lot of speculating and planning happening. One of those books where a thing happens and then we discuss and re-discuss it, you know? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexism, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol and Chronic illness