Reviews tagging 'Death'

Threadneedle by Cari Thomas

9 reviews

nuttynat's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book has an interesting premise and delivers on it, for the most part. It explores themes of coming-of-age, family, friendship and trust. The world-building is my favorite aspect of this book: set in modern-day London within the things we cannot see (or what we think we cannot see). My main qualm with this book is its synopsis that sets an expectation that is not delivered in this book to a large degree, however, if you disregard the synopsis, it is still an excellent read. I look forward to reading the sequel and cannot wait to see what lies ahead for our protagonist. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Death, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Body shaming, and Violence

jadehusdanhicks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.75

This was such a wild ride of a book and completely unpredictable. The detail put into this world was astounding from the binders, the eye symbol, the details behind all the various magic languages and the family drama. 

The mystery behind Anna’s magic was so intriguing , and I honestly saw nothing coming , from the family curse to Effie being a king list twin and Attis not being what he seems. 

From revenge, to love/lust to betrayal this book was filled with chaos and although it was lengthy it was such a worthwhile read. I’ve never read a fantasy with such detailed magic systems, but despite their complexity it was enjoyable and not hard to follow. 

The binders book extracts at the start of each chapter really added to the mystery behind their grove and was a creative edge which aided the world building. Overall, I loved this book and cannot wait for the sequel to find out where this curse takes Anna, effie and trying to protect the secret of witches in the world. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Blood, Bullying, Death of parent, Death, and Murder

foreverbookwandering's review

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

This was way darker than I thought it would be and definitely needed trigger warnings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Death

meagangrace's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Child abuse, Blood, Emotional abuse, Death, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Cursing, Bullying, Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Fatphobia, and Body shaming

Minor: Kidnapping and Pregnancy

thetiefenator's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

3.5

I enjoyed reading this book, and I do intend to read the rest of the series - the first book is definitely not meant to stand alone in my opinion. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Grief, Body horror, Death of parent, Bullying, Death, Blood, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, and Violence

dazzle_spider_reader_1212's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Bullying, Fatphobia, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Death, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Suicide

lucy_shanners's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Body horror, and Bullying

Moderate: Death of parent, Body shaming, Death, and Confinement

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

madamepincers's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Bullying

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Torture, Misogyny, Dysphoria, Cursing, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Murder and Vomit

rosienreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense 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? Yes

4.5

 Disclaimer: I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Anna has been brought up to believe magic is a curse, something that should be suppressed and bound, but its temptation is strong and when the wild and carefree Effie joins her school, Anna might just get a taste of the magic she’d spent so long trying to resist. 

This was a book that had all in the ingredients for a perfect reading spell. From the cast of characters to the story and, of course, the magic. While I can see Anna being frustrating for some, I particularly enjoyed her character arc as she battled between ‘no-one’ persona she’d cultivated to appease her aunt, and the personality that had been hidden away. I felt the book did a good job of exploring her doubts and divided loyalties between her friends and her aunt, the woman who raised her. 

I particularly enjoyed how to book balanced the various relationships within the story, from the family aspect to the friendships and then the romantic elements. It was refreshing to see the friendships be the primary focal point, despite the romance being particularly relevant for the main plot, and coming away from the book those are the elements I remember the strongest. The group of friends was fun to read in how they came together and played off each other. 

My favourite part of the book was the magic. The way it was depicted and how it was treated in the lore of the book caught my imagination. That there were different languages of magic, from the knots of the binders to the plant work of Rowan’s family, made for interesting and varied uses within the book and it was fun thinking of what kind of magic language I would use. Given that the series title appears to be ‘The Language of Magic’ according to Goodreads, this seems to be a concept that will be picked up and explored more in later books, which I am there for. 

Overall, this was a solid read. I enjoyed the development and seeing how it played out, as well as integrating the magic and over-arching plot with a group of high-school girls having fun while on a journey of self-discovery within a school setting. It did have its slow moments. It also didn’t shy away from depicting abuse and the darker side of magic either, which could potentially be disturbing for some readers. Even so, this book was very much my cup of tea and I am intrigued for where it will go from here. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Death of parent and Death

Minor: Fatphobia