Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

House of Bane and Blood by Alexis L. Menard

4 reviews

sassacass11's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous dark 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

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This book gave me the vibes of Peaky Blinders if it took place in a world of Gods and the descendants that inherited their powers. 

The story became more captivating with each page, and by the end i was reading for hours at a time. 

The entire story was well put together and the world and character building brought it all to life. 

The story of Nico & Milla is great…. But oh my gosh, the cliffhanger at the end is rough!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Trafficking, Gaslighting, Classism

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Confinement, Suicide, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, Classism

cornyylynn's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

amanda_reads13's review against another edition

3.5

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Milla, who has lived a sheltered life as a heiress, is married off to Nico to help pay off the family debts. 

So, being completely honest, I'm not sure how I feel about this book. At first I felt like the world building and magical system was not well explained and I was very confused about the structure of society. It was eventually explained, but I felt like that should have been explained earlier. I think that really took away from being able to immerse myself into this world. I kept being pulled out trying to figure things out. 

That said, I did enjoy the overall plot of the book. I thought that Milla and Nico had good chemistry. I liked that we got dual POVs. 

I feel like the characters were severely underdeveloped. I hate how Milla just cowers to her brothers demands and let's them control her, but dealing with Nico, she is so strong and hardheaded. Nico is a pretty smart guy, but is somehow completely blindsided when he was set up by the inspector. 

I knew early on that

Milla was going have magic and be a part of chaos. It just made logical sense to me. I am interested in how her powers will develop and lead to changes in  the structure of their society.

Tropes: marriage of convenience, magical society, revenge, found family

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail

beersbooksandbooos's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad 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: Complicated

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I follow the author on TikTok and when she said this was Peaky Blinders mixed with the Grishaverse, I knew I had to pick up this book. Peaky Blinders is one of my favorite shows, so this book was perfect. I would have read it in one day if I didn't need sleep. The magic system was Chef Kiss and I could see where the Grishaverse magic system inspired the author. Though I really liked this magic system a lot more. I have also found my new book boyfriend in Nico, I kept picturing the musician Ren as Nico.  I loved reading about Milla's growth, and how she became stronger and was able to stand her own.  The side characters also made me love this book and I really can't wait to see more of them.  I am glad I don't have to wait a whole year for book two, just half a year.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent