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Graphic: Bullying, Death, Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent, War
Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Genocide, Gore, Sexual content, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Death, Gore, Violence, Grief, War, Injury/Injury detail
And despite the fact that the plot did not often surprise me, the characters did. I am not disabled and am open to hearing otherwise, but I feel like I recognized the experiences of disabled friends and students in Violet’s development. From people underestimating her, to stifling her through protection, to the way accommodations were handled. But again, I would like to know how someone with similar disabilities felt about it.
Speaking of love…I would not call this a love triangle. Dain was never even a remote possibility. So horrible right from the start. Xaden is of course the deliciously tortured kind of dark MMC that I adore. When the enemies became lovers I was giggling and smiling. The banter…oh, the banter! 😍
The secondary characters were rich and added depth to the story.
The spice builds at a decent pace. And the waiting pays off.
Aside from characters with chronic illness or loss of hearing, the book’s characters are described as having a range of skin tones and hair types/textures, suggesting racial diversity. Though this is largely limited to the background characters. Xaden is described as having darker hair and skin so he’s maybe not white? There are bi and non-binary characters as well. Overall the book has a fair amount of diverse representation, with disability representation being the most prominent.
There is some controversy with this author appropriating Scots Gaelic and being pretty careless in a recent interview when asked about it. I removed a half star for that. This is a developing situation and I hope she listens to her fanbase and learns from it (as well as apologizes, of course).
Overall, I enjoyed the characters and Violet’s story arc. The action scenes were well-written and the pacing overall worked well. And I am excited to read the next one in just a few days. I ended up pre-ordering the kindle version despite the fact that I have a hardcover copy on the way. 🤭
Graphic: Ableism, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Violence, Death of parent, War
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Genocide, Blood, Grief
Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism
Graphic: Death, Sexual content
Moderate: Bullying, Death of parent