Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles

5 reviews

onefineelephant's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious reflective 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

10/10. I accidentally read the second book (about Luke) first before reading this one but I'm not necessarily mad at the order since they are fairly standalone books. I do think it was an interesting perspective to have so much knowledge of Luke when he was not so much in this book until the end. Because I read the other book first, I more or less knew what was going to happen in this one but somehow I was still so surprised by the events. There is something about this author's writing style that makes me think about the characters and plot non-stop and yet also not have any idea where the story is going (in a good way). I love the genuine connection but also faults between Joss and Gareth. Their love is so wonderful, especially set in this time period. I also enjoyed the supporting characters quite a bit including the other Doomsdays and Gareth's new family. Overall, I highly recommend this book as well as the second. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Grief, Death, Death of parent, Torture, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Classism, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Outing, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexism, Stalking, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

Minor: Abandonment, Ableism, Alcoholism, Medical content, and Misogyny

There is potential incest because a cousin implies to want to court his cousin but nothing actually happens. Also, at one point there is a threat of sexual assault/rape of a woman but this threat is not made to the woman and does not actually happen.

crystalisreading's review

adventurous emotional hopeful

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

More violence and tension than i expected, but nevertheless absolutely delightful. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Abandonment, Violence, Medical trauma, Medical content, Death of parent, Death, Blood, Alcohol, Murder, Gun violence, Classism, Child abuse, and Bullying

Moderate: Outing, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Racism, Grief, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault

Minor: Pregnancy, Slavery, Colonisation, and Misogyny

booksthatburn's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

THE SECRET LIVES OF COUNTRY GENTLEMEN is another excellent gay romance from K.J. Charles, this time between a noble and a smuggler... with the complication that the noble, Sir Gareth, didn’t get his inheritance until his twenties when his estranged father died unexpectedly. Gareth pushes away a man with whom he'd spent a very pleasant week, only to have it turn out that this man lives near his late father's home and their lives keep intertwining in unexpected ways. 

I don’t generally like the miscommunication trope, but this one is handled well without making anyone behave nonsensically (as much as I'd prefer they'd made different decisions earlier) Much of the tension is over people who think the Gareth has information which he does not, and this was overall delightful to read the missed the violence in murder and other dangers of smuggling as a profession. I like Joss, I generally enjoy roguish characters, and as a smuggler he fits that both in occupation and in personality. 

I love the Doomsdays as a family and as individuals. The ways they behave collectively and individually just make so much sense and written so well. There's a real sense of identity to the people in the Marsh without turning them into a single mass. There's also a focus on Luke, a boy whose father uses his position within the Doomsdays to mistreat him and wield power as a petty tyrant over a child with limited recourse.

I wanted a romance with danger and maybe a little death, and this delivered on all fronts with a fascinating narrative to boot. The ending leaves room for some kind of follow-up on Luke, and I plan to read the sequel which features him as an adult.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Confinement, Violence, Kidnapping, and Sexual content

Moderate: Medical content, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Murder, Death, Abandonment, Death of parent, and Blood

purrson's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious 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

A totally adorable story, and (as an American who’s rarely visited) I loved this new setting in the UK that KJ Charles explores. The foray into local ecology and the period’s expansion of natural sciences gave an interesting context to the setting, which has plenty of atmosphere on its own. The characters were lovable as always—so much so that I couldn’t help reading the teaser chapter of the following book set in the same place, 13 years later. 

While I generally prefer to read queer stories written by openly queer authors, I always make exceptions for Charles (who’s ID I don’t know): She’s so good at research that the historical settings ground and enrich the stories she tells so well I can’t help but love them. The period’s contexts of politics, class, various war times or law changes the characters are shaped by or responding to, in all of these different, sometimes insular communities and locations, she says ‘queer people existed here, queer communities were here, queer people deserved to be happy here, here’s how it maybe/could have looked’. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Classism, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Abandonment, Child abuse, and Sexual content

Minor: Medical content, Homophobia, Death, Death of parent, Racism, Violence, Gun violence, Grief, and Murder

mild spoilers of subplots:

smuggling, child abuse by a parent that is addressed and resolved by the end

skudiklier's review

adventurous emotional mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

I really enjoyed this! There was more mystery/tension than I was expecting, and the climax was a bit scarier than I was ready for, but if anything that just raised the stakes for the book overall. It was really good and I was fully rooting for their relationship.

Minor spoilers ahead: 

I felt really bad for Luke, and also the end had me forgetting that they couldn't really get married 🥲🥲🥲

 

I definitely want to read more by this author! Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca and Netgalley for the chance to read and review this ARC. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Kidnapping, Outing, Classism, Gun violence, Abandonment, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Grief, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, War, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, and Alcohol

Minor: Body shaming, Child death, and Bullying