Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Okno skąpane w mroku

Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Okno skąpane w mroku by Rachel Gillig

117 reviews

reallyrosalie's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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coffeekitaab's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

One of those moments where I am so grateful to Bookstagram for recommending this else I would never pick it up - literally, don't judge a book by it's cover!

A well thought of, clever premise that's beautifully written. I was consumed by this fantasy world, by the story of Elspeth who struggles with a dark magic that resides in her mind, but which also protects her from danger - and Ravyn, who is Captain of the guard which arrests and punishes people just like Elspeth..only Rayvn keeps Elspeth safe because he needs her magic to save his brother. With this fear around magic there are lots of secrets in the book and you have your heart in your throat most of the time but it is power packed. There is so much going in the background with the history of the King, how the magic came to exist and the usurper who now abuses it, but the writing makes this really easy to follow.

This is a book which has heart and soul, lovable characters (and not so lovable) and actually makes you feel smarter once you've finished reading. I devoured it within the space of a few days (just so that I could join a buddy read for the 2nd book which starts today, but I made it!). 75% in there was a little too much repetition for my liking but I'd highly recommend this - a favourite read this year definitely.

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saeriiss's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

This book is delightful to read, it manages to be funny and engaging while exploring dark themes and settings, and I think that's what drew me in the most.

The magic system is quite cool, although not original, it's different from what we are used to see and the way the author incorporates it into the world is very refreshing. I loved the characters, Elspeth and the Yews (including Elm) were well built during the story and I was able to connect easily with them, the only problem is that, despite the enemies-to-lovers trope between the main couple, it feels like there is no character development, but I think that's a consequence of another issue in this book.

If I'm being honest, this book feels like it's actually the first half of a story that has been dragged out. It's not until 40% in that the plot starts to develop a bit and the final 30% is extremely rushed because we spent the rest of it doing barely anything. You're probably thinking "maybe it's just a character-driven story", and yes, you might see it that way, but then there should've been much more development of the main characters' arc and journey, we should've seen them in way more depth than we were able to.

Final thoughts: if you're looking for an easy read, with very cool characters, a seductive male lead, dark magic, a royal family full of secrets, and kind of a plot going on in the background, I highly recommend this!

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thehannahclaire's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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wellreadandhalfdead's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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booksdogsandcoffee's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

5.0

This captivating realm of mystique and dark fantasy is a wild ride. Gillig pulls of a ground breaking magic system unlike any I have seen in other fantasy novels. The intricate card based magical system is nothing short of phenomenal and leaves me wanting to have an actual collection of my own of providence cards. This was utterly gripping until the very end.

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