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buttondragon's review
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
I read this on a whim because it was available on audiobook and it was marked as LGBT and Gothic literature, both things i very much like. Personally, I don’t think it really fits either category. Really enjoyed the start of this book, but oh boy it dragged. Somewhere around the 30% mark I started noticing really repetitive descriptions and dialogue. The main character is… a bit annoying to be honest. Refuses help, wants to protect everyone else, even if accepting help would make things easier for everyone. Lots of passing mentions of side characters sexualities being queer, buuuut our main romance is still the usual guy and girl. Very little world building is done, and what there is doesn’t always track chapter to chapter. I’m sure some people will really enjoy this book, and I’d say go for it. Do keep in mind there is a LOT of (TW: Self Harm) cutting of the arms and wrists mentioned as means of handling an evil lake. Threw me for a loop a bit.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
abotts27's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This is definitely a dark, gothic story. There were quite a few mentions of self harm, so make sure to read the content warnings. Overall, I did find myself going back to this story repeatedly because I had so many questions, but I left the ending with some of the same questions.
I felt like the magic system fell a bit flat. It was very crucial to the plot, but I didn’t fully understand how it worked.
The main character was also my least favorite, and she was determined to make herself a martyr rather than opening up to anyone. I had hoped she would learn and grow from it more in the end.
That said, it was a compelling story and unique plot. I kept me interested, and I’m curious to see more from this author.
I felt like the magic system fell a bit flat. It was very crucial to the plot, but I didn’t fully understand how it worked.
The main character was also my least favorite, and she was determined to make herself a martyr rather than opening up to anyone. I had hoped she would learn and grow from it more in the end.
That said, it was a compelling story and unique plot. I kept me interested, and I’m curious to see more from this author.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm and Child abuse
Minor: Suicide attempt
the_books_music_life's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
(So, I do have a question but it is spoilerly and at the very end, so if someone could answer that would be great.)
I LOVE the brief bsexual rep we got with Rowan. I feel like I don’t see bisexual rep in the books I read. Maybe I’m just reading the wrong books, who knows; but I was very happy to see it.
The love the setting, the atmosphere was stunning and the way it was described I could imagine it so easily. The characters are another thing I like, although, I did have my issues with somethings. I love Rowan and Leta’s relationship, It did develop a little fast but that’s to be expected in a duology. The slight slow-burn of it was enjoyable to read. Rowan as a character is something I really loved, he’s complex and allows/lets the world and people see him the way they want to, but when we get to learn more about Rowan and his past you ca understand why he is the way he is. I also love the sibling dynamic between Arien and Leta, it was so sweet and you can tell how much they mean to each other.
I feel iffy on the price Leta had to pay, it felt like too much and not enough at the same time. Maybe that was just me.
Now I do have slight issues with pacing, it felt both rushed and too slow. Leta fell into many of the cliches with older YA of always having to do it yourself and alone. I felt like certain scenes were trying to be more dramatic than they actually were and it threw me off a few times. But the last chapter was so dramatic it had me rolling my eyes a few times; don’t get me wrong I love drama, but when it’s done right. Some of the word choices the author used were a little bit cringe worthy with how dramatic they were.
But, overall I did really enjoy this book, the writing was good, I enjoyed the characters, the different types of relationships etc.
Was it explained why Leta would see, summon, and go to the World Below? Did I miss that explanation? Could someone explain it to me?
I LOVE the brief bsexual rep we got with Rowan. I feel like I don’t see bisexual rep in the books I read. Maybe I’m just reading the wrong books, who knows; but I was very happy to see it.
The love the setting, the atmosphere was stunning and the way it was described I could imagine it so easily. The characters are another thing I like, although, I did have my issues with somethings. I love Rowan and Leta’s relationship, It did develop a little fast but that’s to be expected in a duology. The slight slow-burn of it was enjoyable to read. Rowan as a character is something I really loved, he’s complex and allows/lets the world and people see him the way they want to, but when we get to learn more about Rowan and his past you ca understand why he is the way he is. I also love the sibling dynamic between Arien and Leta, it was so sweet and you can tell how much they mean to each other.
I feel iffy on the price Leta had to pay, it felt like too much and not enough at the same time. Maybe that was just me.
Now I do have slight issues with pacing, it felt both rushed and too slow. Leta fell into many of the cliches with older YA of always having to do it yourself and alone. I felt like certain scenes were trying to be more dramatic than they actually were and it threw me off a few times. But the last chapter was so dramatic it had me rolling my eyes a few times; don’t get me wrong I love drama, but when it’s done right. Some of the word choices the author used were a little bit cringe worthy with how dramatic they were.
But, overall I did really enjoy this book, the writing was good, I enjoyed the characters, the different types of relationships etc.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, and Body horror
Minor: Suicide attempt
siglerbooknook's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I honestly don't know how to review this book. Even at the end I was still confused, like I was missing some important part of the story.
Lakesedge felt like a scrapbook dedicated to Hades and Persephone, Alice in Wonderland, love triangles, and quippy one liners, but the person making the scrapbook was high.
I enjoyed the little details of the book and there is nothing inherently wrong with the writing style, but somehow it still felt incomplete and discombobulated. The romance was sweet but came at the most unexpected moments. Same with the quippy dialogue: it made me smile, but came after such intense scenes that it gave me whiplash.
The premise held so much promise and I definitely enjoyed the twists and turns of how we got to the end, but I feel like I still don't understand anything that happened or why.
Overall it was not a bad debut novel and I may read it again to see what I missed before attempting book two.
Lakesedge felt like a scrapbook dedicated to Hades and Persephone, Alice in Wonderland, love triangles, and quippy one liners, but the person making the scrapbook was high.
I enjoyed the little details of the book and there is nothing inherently wrong with the writing style, but somehow it still felt incomplete and discombobulated. The romance was sweet but came at the most unexpected moments. Same with the quippy dialogue: it made me smile, but came after such intense scenes that it gave me whiplash.
The premise held so much promise and I definitely enjoyed the twists and turns of how we got to the end, but I feel like I still don't understand anything that happened or why.
Overall it was not a bad debut novel and I may read it again to see what I missed before attempting book two.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Self harm
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Blood
Minor: Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Suicide attempt
bluebell499's review
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Self harm
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Suicide attempt
inborinth's review
dark
mysterious
sad
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
4.0
❝𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭?❞
Pesadillas que traspasan la realidad, recuerdos de magia y familiaridad, asesinatos y mansiones, creencias y oscuridad. Violeta está rodeada de aquellos rituales. Convive con la única familia que le queda, aunque algo perverso los aceche. Una magia tan sólida como la mismísima sangre atrapa sus sueños más profundos, pero, ¿son realmente sueños o una trampa? Caer en terror es lo único que conocen, encerrados en un hogar agonizante, alguien logra intervenir todo el dolor que han sufrido.
Lakesedge es un libro de culpa y perdón. De enfrentar verdades y recuerdos, miedos y criaturas horroríficas. Es una historia que reconoce la soledad, invertida en dos mundos tan catastróficamente parecidos. El sacrificio que los personajes deben enfrentar se torna aún más crudo, donde comienzan a hilarse la magia y el poder de algo mucho más temible que la verdad. Un ser que podría acabar con la luz del mundo, un ser que intercambia su oscuridad por lo que uno esté dispuesto a entregar. Pactos de sangre, podredumbre que acecha un hogar aniquilado de felicidad. Cada aspecto de esta historia es un rito de salvación.
Este libro tiene una prosa bellísima, cálida y mundana. El estilo gótico se cierne en cada capítulo y va creciendo a medida que la historia avanza, crece como una raíz. Es difícil abarcar cada parte del libro, pero admito que hubo aspectos del mismo que no lograron convencerme como esperaba. El intercambio romántico de los personajes, a pesar de haberlo disfrutado, lo sentí hueco. Lo presencié como algo brusco, rápido y hasta un tanto vacío. Tienen sus momentos de unión inquebrantable, pero tengo mis dudas al respecto. Tendré que enfrentar su continuación para formar una opinión más sólida en cuanto a su romance.
Pesadillas que traspasan la realidad, recuerdos de magia y familiaridad, asesinatos y mansiones, creencias y oscuridad. Violeta está rodeada de aquellos rituales. Convive con la única familia que le queda, aunque algo perverso los aceche. Una magia tan sólida como la mismísima sangre atrapa sus sueños más profundos, pero, ¿son realmente sueños o una trampa? Caer en terror es lo único que conocen, encerrados en un hogar agonizante, alguien logra intervenir todo el dolor que han sufrido.
Lakesedge es un libro de culpa y perdón. De enfrentar verdades y recuerdos, miedos y criaturas horroríficas. Es una historia que reconoce la soledad, invertida en dos mundos tan catastróficamente parecidos. El sacrificio que los personajes deben enfrentar se torna aún más crudo, donde comienzan a hilarse la magia y el poder de algo mucho más temible que la verdad. Un ser que podría acabar con la luz del mundo, un ser que intercambia su oscuridad por lo que uno esté dispuesto a entregar. Pactos de sangre, podredumbre que acecha un hogar aniquilado de felicidad. Cada aspecto de esta historia es un rito de salvación.
Este libro tiene una prosa bellísima, cálida y mundana. El estilo gótico se cierne en cada capítulo y va creciendo a medida que la historia avanza, crece como una raíz. Es difícil abarcar cada parte del libro, pero admito que hubo aspectos del mismo que no lograron convencerme como esperaba. El intercambio romántico de los personajes, a pesar de haberlo disfrutado, lo sentí hueco. Lo presencié como algo brusco, rápido y hasta un tanto vacío. Tienen sus momentos de unión inquebrantable, pero tengo mis dudas al respecto. Tendré que enfrentar su continuación para formar una opinión más sólida en cuanto a su romance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Blood, Child abuse, and Death
jwhitlow91's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Medical content, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Death, Body horror, Self harm, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Vomit
Minor: Suicide attempt and Sexual content
elwan_enchanted's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Blood, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Death of parent, Gore, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Vomit, and Suicide
r_a_bell's review
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This book read like a 2012 self-insert watt pad fanfic, especially in the beginning. There’s a lot of build-up with no delivery and it seems like instead of letting the story speak for itself, the author instead just tells you how you should feel about the story.
At the beginning, the main character refer to the (initial) antagonist as “the monster” constantly. After hearing a single rumor about him, being told that he’s called a monster and having like 2 interactions with him. It’s like it was just easier to have the main character keep calling him a monster instead of actually illustrating it and leading you to that conclusion yourself. The entire book just felt like it was trying to hard to be dark and scary, without actually delivering.
My biggest complaint, though, is the descriptions throughout do not line up. When I read, I have a movie that plays in my head of what’s going on in the book. And the way actions were described, it completely took me out of the story almost constantly! For example, if it describes two characters in the same room, at first it will describe them as being on opposite side of the room, and then 2 seconds later it’ll be saying that character A grabbed Character B’s hand. When did they cross the room?? Did I miss something or do they just have super long arms??
My final note:there’s supposed to be a love triangle in this?? The third person in the supposed love triangle is only actually in a scene maybe 3 times. And the way it’s described it felt my creepy and weird than anything. Reading it, I kept thinking to myself “does the author mean for it to sound like the main character is kind of into him??” Nothing about it seemed intentional.
At the beginning, the main character refer to the (initial) antagonist as “the monster” constantly. After hearing a single rumor about him, being told that he’s called a monster and having like 2 interactions with him. It’s like it was just easier to have the main character keep calling him a monster instead of actually illustrating it and leading you to that conclusion yourself. The entire book just felt like it was trying to hard to be dark and scary, without actually delivering.
My biggest complaint, though, is the descriptions throughout do not line up. When I read, I have a movie that plays in my head of what’s going on in the book. And the way actions were described, it completely took me out of the story almost constantly! For example, if it describes two characters in the same room, at first it will describe them as being on opposite side of the room, and then 2 seconds later it’ll be saying that character A grabbed Character B’s hand. When did they cross the room?? Did I miss something or do they just have super long arms??
My final note:
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Vomit, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Blood, Death, Gore, and Suicide
Moderate: Child death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Abandonment
haley49's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I loved the atmosphere and characters. They all felt sympathetic and realistic, especially when making frustrating decisions! I really liked the main couple and enjoyed their journey together. They had a beauty and the beast feel that was well-done. That said, this book had parts where I felt like I was missing something and there were a few moments where J was confused. I also wish the secondary characters, particularly Violeta’s brother got more time to shine. Overall, a great read with some surprisingly heart-tugging moments that left me emotional on these characters (Leta and Rowan’s) behalfs. I hated Leta’s sacrifice though! I found myself wishing she died rather than give up her memories! That hurt😭😭
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, and Body horror
Moderate: Self harm, Death of parent, Vomit, Gore, and Grief
Minor: Sexual content and Suicide attempt