Reviews with content warning for Death - Bride

Reviews tagging 'Death'

lovelymisanthrope's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I have been following Ali Hazelwood for a few years and had to pick up her latest work.
"Bride" follows Misery Lark, the daughter of a very powerful Vampyre councilman. Misery has long ago run away from her father and the world he tries to control, but when her best friend goes missing and the only clue she has leads her to the Werewolfs, she finds herself following her father's request and marrying the Alpha Werewolf, Lowe Moreland. A Vampyre in a Werewolf world is dangerous, but Misery will stop at nothing to figure out what really happened. Hopefully, she can learn to like her new husband along the way...
I did not think I was a big fan of paranormal romance, but this captivated me in a way I was not expecting. The tension between Misery and Lowe because they were different species only added to the heat between them because they are somewhat enemies.
Misery was the perfect blend of strong, self-assured woman, and snarky, attitude-riddled girl. I think most people would not accept the situation Misery was thrown into with such grace, and she certainly did not. But she knew how to handle herself and she gave the Werewolfs hell when they treated her poorly.
Misery and Lowe were such the perfect blend of a couple. They both really do not know much about each other, and their dislike for one another all stems from how they think they are supposed to react. Despite the circumstances, Lowe is fairly inviting of Misery into his home, and he treats her with a level of respect that was beautiful to see. I really loved seeing them thaw out towards one another and slowly realize they have so much more in common than they thought.
The mystery behind what happened to Misery's friend and the political tension between the Vampyres, Werewolfs, and humans were all interesting and helped to keep the story moving along, but I did not feel like it overshadowed the romance. I definitely think this book is first and foremost a romance, and anything else occurring in the background is a subplot point created to help move the romance along in a higher stakes way. I do think the political tensions could be a really interesting story to explore all on their own, if Ali Hazelwood ever wanted to explore that without the romance taking up the majority of the plot.
If you enjoy paranormal romance, I definitely recommend this one, and I am excited to continue to read from Ali Hazelwood in the future.

Content Warnings

lawbooks600's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous 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? Yes

3.0

Representation: N/A
Score: Five out of ten.

What an underwhelming reading experience. Again.

Let me get this straight: Ali Hazelwood is not the author for me. Bride is the third book I've read from her, but she always disappoints and never seems to improve. I gave her three chances when I read The Love Hypothesis and then Check & Mate, but Bride was at the same level, not above it. Perhaps I should stop reading from her.

It starts with a prologue that lasts for a few pages, then it cuts to the central storyline with Misery Lark, a vampire, sorry, Vampyre (I'm cringing at this) living in the Human (uppercase) world. The pacing is slow at first and continues to be so, as Bride is around 400 pages. Bride only appeals to three types of people, those who like paranormal romances, those who enjoy fantasy romances (romantasies for short) and Hazelwood enthusiasts. I am not any of them. Hazelwood's latest creation stumbles in every possible aspect, so I'm unsure where to start, but I'll try.

First, the plot. As implied by the term romantasy, the narrative revolves around the relationship between Misery and Lowe Moreland, a Were (uppercase, and presumably short for werewolf.) Is it me, or romantasies don't work for me? I like fantasies with strong worldbuilding, not novels about romances in a fantastical setting with no worldbuilding (contemporary and urban too.) It leaves behind so many unanswered questions. Expanding upon the world would improve the romantasy genre. Where do the Weres and Vampyres come from? Why are they at war with each other and the Humans? Bride doesn't explain that. The characters lack depth, so saying they had chemistry would be a stretch. Increasing depth and character development would've made me enjoy Bride more, but I can't recommend this one in its present state. Those also looking for compositions with literary value should look elsewhere. At least the conclusion is heartwarming, as the couple is together in the end.

Content Warnings

torturedreadersdept's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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

5.0

Content Warnings

daisycantread24's review

Go to review page

emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

christene_littlelibrary's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

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

4.0

Bride by Ali Hazelwood was not thoroughly polished and the naming convention was a bit basic and cringey, but I honestly did not care. Maybe because I knew that this was her first dip at Fantasy, so I was a forgiving with everything. Ali Hazelwood is really good at forced proximity trope and all. I loved how funny misery is despite her name lmao She was a fighter was hoping for more action but the romance in this book is wow, no words for its hotness! I need more of Lowe's POV. I think this will be a series soon!

Content Warnings

emilytazzler's review

Go to review page

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-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

4.0

Content Warnings

mzquirk's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny hopeful tense 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

4.25

Content Warnings

linnybear's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny lighthearted mysterious 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

4.0

It was my first Ali Hazelwoods’ ever and because I’m not a romance type of girlie I was so glad she introduced a fantasy theme into one of her books so I could read it myself. I went into it pretty much ‘no thoughts, head empty’ though being fully aware she’s known for her ‘gigantic men + small women’ couples and a bit of cringey dialogue. Not gonna lie, this type of approach saved my whole experience with this book. The outcome (meaning my enjoyment and final review) would be SO DIFFERENT if I decided to treat this book seriously from the beginning till the very end.

The book itself is written in a very unserious almost satire-like manner and I enjoyed how self-aware it was. I am used to heroines playing dumb, constantly asking the wrong questions and jumping to ‘made up from thin air’ conclusions so seeing Misery speaking her mind so openly and thinking what I was thinking was like a breath of fresh air. The writing wasn’t anything spectacular, definitely more ‘fanfiction like’ but I had an insane amount of fun reading all the banter and realistic(!) dialogues between characters (and these spicy scenes, damn). The characters fit the vibe of the book perfectly, each one of them adding some value to the main plot whether it’s for the mystery, drama or the family relationships. Basically we get the funny moments, thriller or found family bits when it feels necessary so there was no chapter where I felt it’s too heavy to digest.

Now to the romance itself, I definitely could feel lots of chemistry there to the point I found myself giggling and laughing out loud many times (the comedy style of the book definitely adding to that). I think Misery and Lowe worked really well together as a couple without losing their individual personalities in all the other scenes they were not seen together. The introduction of more heavy topics and conversations really helped me see them as more than just a fling but as a long term relationship that could get through all the hardships together and not break up right after the book is finished (looking at you Emily Henry).

Overall it really felt like a palette cleanser for me,very lightweight and fast paced, perfect when you’d love to stay up all night reading fanfictions but in a standalone book form. I definitely won’t actively avoid Ali Hazelwood’s books from now on, even if they are just contemporary romances.

Content Warnings

juliesleseecke's review

Go to review page

emotional funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

cassie12_21's review

Go to review page

medium-paced

4.0

The writing was done well, and written for knotting beginners. Not the typical rules for vampires and werewolves which I really liked.

Content Warnings

More...