Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young

11 reviews

ettaviereads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Death

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Murder, and Pregnancy

phoenixlovesbooks's review

dark hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I loved the story and the mystery of it all, but the thing that made me the most frustrated was all the talk of secrets. It felt like everyone had a secret and it got to the point where I didn't even care anymore

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, Violence, Physical abuse, Death, Murder, Grief, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship

Minor: Cancer and Suicide

slvt4b00ks's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I read this book very fast so I would say I was invested in how things turned out but the only wow factor was really the twist at the end.  The author does paint a very vivid picture with beautiful words which I can appreciate, but I just felt like it fell flat.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Violence, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Cancer, Death, Drug use, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Murder, Gaslighting, Police brutality, and Pregnancy

heatherjchin's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Suicide, Death of parent, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, Self harm, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Animal death, Death, and Alcohol

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

Minor: Gun violence, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Cannibalism, and Child abuse

btaylorb's review

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? No

3.75

Overall I enjoyed this book a lot. I had a hard time keeping track of who the characters were in relation to one another to the point where some sort of dramatis personae at the beginning would have helped. However, I also associate that kind of pre-textual setup with a certain tone and genre, and it probably would not have fit with the tone of this particular story and the voices of the book's narrators. 

I wish there had been a little more character development for the two main characters, beyond their reconciliation and solving the mystery. I feel like Adrienne Young has a skill for drawing out the essential threads of mystery and answering the big questions within the last 50 pages. She did this pretty effectively in the Fable duology as well.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Alcoholism, Suicide, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

amobrien's review

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent, Suicide, Alcoholism, and Death

kaylierian's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.5

I read this at the absolute best time. 

It's been a while since I've been this captivated by a book. The spooky, eerie atmosphere sucked me in from the first page.

August and Emery were precious. It's not a secret that I fall for childhood friends to lovers every time. And I fell HARD. I wish there was more page time dedicated to their relationship towards the end, though. The epilogue came real fast and sudden. It was really jarring to come from an intense ending to a HEA epilogue

I will say Young is a genius by adding other townsfolk points of view. It added so much more depth and intrigue to the story. It was the perfect touch. Adrienne Young's writing is just... I don't have words for how gorgeous it is. This is the first book I've read from Young, but I definitely will read more now.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide

nbreezy17's review against another edition

emotional mysterious slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Death, and Murder

bjacobsknits's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide

kates_books's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

A perfect spooky season read. The setting of the island off the coast of the Pacific Northwest was vivid and darkly beautiful. The entire story was deeply atmospheric. The mystery, its twists and turns and all the secrets of the novel were entrancing. The secrets of all the characters made each one so deep and complex. 

 Other thoughts:

• Genre: magical realism mixed with mystery with a sprinkle of romance 
• I liked how natural the magic was and how seamless it was interwoven throughout the story. It was never really explained as to its origins, it was just part of the setting. 
• It would have been interesting to hear more of the relationship between Hannah, Eloise, and nixie 
• I get that the orchard was the backbone of the community, but resorting to murder for it seems a little dramatic. Especially when it was pretty clear that august would have been fine giving it to the town
   
• I think Dutch’s character was perfectly written. A deeply flawed individual but his anger issues are easy to understand. His actions are messed up but make sense. 
• once we found out lily was pregnant, I had a feeling that her death would be self-caused. But I was surprised that it was caused by such hatred. I think this was the most unbelievable part of the story / the least thought out. We kind of got SMALL glimpses that lily was an erratic, irresponsible, impulsive girl — but I didn’t see any signs of hate or apathy. Jealously, insecurity, and maybe loneliness would be easy to understand, but her cruelty, maliciousness, and hatred seemed too out of character.
   
• Emery and August’s love was so pure 
• Emery’s grandmother was a fantastic character
• I think this story did a great job at taking off the rose colored glasses people have on for small, rural towns. It shows that they can just as dark and corrupt. People turning a blind eye to harm they know is happening because of power and money. 
• I wish we had returned to the part of Jakob beating august before he and his mom left town. It was only alluded to once and I think it needed more reflection. Similarly, we never found out how started the fire on the truck.
• We never really find out what the birds mean. It kind of seems like they are actors of the island. But whether they are good or bad omens is unclear.  But maybe that is just the magic being something beyond explanation. 
• I was just about to write that we never really get an explanation for emerys dream. The one where she hears screaming and is holding someone down to drown them only to realize it’s herself. But I think knowing that lily intended to kill emery through drowning explains it. It mirrors the horror of lily murdering herself.
  . 
• The setting gave spooky twilight vibes 
• 
  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Murder, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Child abuse, Death, Pregnancy, and Suicide

Minor: Domestic abuse