Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

One Night in Hartswood by Emma Denny

13 reviews

danparrock's review against another edition

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse and Death of parent

Minor: Kidnapping

callidoralblack's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted

• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Medical content

Minor: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Abandonment, Blood, Body shaming, Cursing, Violence, Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Kidnapping

booksthatburn's review

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

ONE NIGHT IN HARTSWOOD is everything I hoped for, and more; a gay romance which mostly takes place during a several week journey by horse, as one man returns home and the other flees an oppressive household. I love romances that are built on communication, which is somewhat ironic, given that both Raff and Penn are keeping major parts of their identities secret, even if they talk about everything else. Normally, lying in relationships stresses me out, but the symmetry of the fact that both of them are keeping the same level of secret and don’t know if the other one is safe to trust with it helped it be less stressful for me. 

This is set up to have at least one sequel, though its particular story is self-contained. Rather than leave an obvious story hook open, it ends with the characters in new situations which grant the possibility of future events without demanding any particular follow up. 

I love Penn and Raff, I like them as individual characters and I enjoy how well they work together. They each have very different relationships with their families. Penn seems to be close with two of his several siblings, despite neither showing up for very long. His father is terrible, rather unambiguously playing the villain. Raff has close and mostly loving relationships with his sister and brother, and, despite their differences, they seem to understand each other fairly well. Not much is shown of Raff's relationship with his father, but what is there seems to be filled with respect and care.

Other things I love, in no particular order: how much of the time is spent just traveling and sleeping in the woods and dealing with inns; the wound care towards the end of the book; the way Penn obviously grows as a person; the more subtle ways that Raff starts to trust in other peoples' competence.

This was great, I want more, and I'm eager for the sequel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content

Moderate: Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Deadnaming, Physical abuse, Gore, Murder, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Confinement, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Classism, Blood, Death, War, and Medical trauma

Minor: Pregnancy, Child abuse, Vomit, and Death of parent

wildatheart1339's review against another edition

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content and Medical content

Minor: Vomit, Alcohol, Death of parent, Death, Homophobia, War, Classism, and Physical abuse

mabellene's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, and Child abuse

Moderate: Death and Homophobia

Minor: Vomit and Death of parent

lexi_air's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Physical abuse

Minor: Death of parent

thaliareads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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

 Thanks to NetGalley and Harper 360 for the opportunity to read this as an ARC! 

A queer historical romance, set in the late 1300s, this book follows the tale of two men whose fates are woven together closer than they would have ever imagined. Penn, William to his father, can’t imagine being married to a woman he doesn’t know and that he knows he’ll never love in the way that his family claims he eventually will. Raff is suspicious about letting his sister marry a man they know nothing about, especially when the rumors of the family are not kind. In an attempt to escape his abusive father and his unwanted engagement, Penn flees into the woods – not considering how ill equipped he is to take care of himself. Raff, unsuccessful in his search for his sister’s missing fiancé, is drawn to this man who’s trying so hard to survive his escape from an unforgiving lord. Raff invites Penn to join him in his journey back home in the north – expecting him to find a good place to settle along the journey. Little do the two men know how much the journey would draw them together. With both of their true identities hidden, what will happen when these secrets are forced into the light? Is their new and fragile love worth risking their lives and the lives of those they love? 

All I can say is I’m in love. This was such a heartwarming romance, and I couldn’t get enough of it. I adored how considerate both men were of the power imbalance between their real life position and the mistaken identity of the opposing man. They put the idea of a romantic relationship on the backburner to protecting each other. I also thought it was incredibly nice that while they obviously acknowledged the stigma and dangers of being in a queer relationship in the 1300s, ultimately that wasn’t the main barrier to a happily ever after. The real villain and obstacle was an innately abusive father who can’t stand his son being anything other than an exact replication of his expectations. This book had tons of twists and turns that I didn’t see coming and was overall an absolute delight to read (I read this book in two sittings). My only complaint was that I’m not used to seeing both characters’ perspectives in one chapter, and I was a bit confused at first as I got my bearings for the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Blood, Sexual content, and Violence

Minor: War, Death of parent, Death, and Homophobia

cateemma's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Physical abuse, and Child abuse

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Confinement, War, Vomit, and Homophobia

alreads13's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I absolutely adored this book! A runaway heir, fake identities and a slow burn romance? What’s not to love?! 

Penn and Ash are thrown together in the woods one night and their stories become entangled from there as they search for freedom from their respective roles and expectations. They traverse the forest side by side as their feelings for each other secretly grow until they’re forced to reckon with the burdens they’re running from. 

I fell in love with these characters! They took me on such a rollercoaster of emotions! And the LONGING in this book is tangible and almost painfully real. I couldn’t get enough of this story and tore through it! This book is perfect for fans  of Cat Sebastian and/or Alexis Hall, I promise!

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper 360, Mills Boon for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse and Confinement

Minor: Death of parent

onemamareads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Read my full review here: https://onemamassummer.weebly.com/book-reviews/one-night-in-hartswood

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood

Moderate: Death

Minor: Death of parent