Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs

21 reviews

clairelisebella's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Abandonment, Body horror, Confinement, and Gaslighting

gnarly_cinnamonroll's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

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

4.0

The plot of this is beautiful and the premise of magical books is fantastic. The complex family dynamics felt real- the sisters navigating the strain of what their parents imparted with them creates a tense atmosphere where you question what the sisters know as well as how their emotions will impact their choices.

Pearl & Esther’s relationship is refreshing and opening with queer characters is fantastic and heart warming.

I could have done without Collins & Joanna’s relationship at the end of the book. It felt rushed to me and I would have loved more build up between the two. Similarly, I wish that there had been deeper nuance and consequence to Esther’s decision to leave Antarctica

I think overall there should have been more consequences for the characters as they go through the book.

I feel as though none of them had any real repercussions to the decisions they made. The author did a could job creating a consistent tense/mysterious atmosphere that left me invested even though nothing negative ultimately happens to any of the characters.

Towards the end of the novel I feel like the individual perspectives homogenized and the unique character voice was lost. 

I really enjoyed all the characters in the book, but I feel like all of them had limited character growth- except perhaps Nicholas. There were some cool plot twists in the book as well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Child abuse

cozy_tea_reader's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Death, Gun violence, Animal death, Blood, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death of parent, and Medical trauma

Minor: Drug use, Grief, Medical content, Pregnancy, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Gore, Kidnapping, Confinement, Toxic relationship, and Classism

rmdange's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.0

I wouldn’t have picked up this book based on its title alone. The puerile simplicity of Ink Blood Sister Scribe belies the complex interplay of dynamic character perspectives at the heart of this novel. Though quickly ensnared by the storytelling – and a darkly magical world reminiscent of Inkheart and Practical Magic – I found that the prose vacillated from elegant and effective to synesthetic, bordering on purple. Still, the satisfaction gleaned from the story’s tendrils weaving together was well worth the obsessive three-week march. Grossly intoxicating, darkly enchanting, and beautifully complex, Ink Blood Sister Scribe is proof that you should listen to librarians’ recommendations. Always.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Child abuse

navayiota's review against another edition

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? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Aggressively good. Saskia Maarleveld has incredible taste in books. If she's narrating it, i know it will be a banger. And she's amazing at what she does!
I really, really enjoyed this story. The plot twists made complete sense and I felt proud of myself whenever I managed to see one coming, the characters are lovable, (I want to give all our protagonists a hug) and the descriptions of sensations were vivid and visceral. I loved every moment. 
It was also a stunning portrayal of how people deal with trauma, especially trauma inflicted by one's primary caregivers. Excellent work!

My one critique would be that they struggled a bit with writing the 4-person conversation between Ester, Johanna, Nicholas and Collins where the 're trying to decide what to do with the wards. It felt forced and repetitive, and constantly reminded me of the fact that this is a story written by a person, and not just me being a fly on the wall for a real life conversation. I didn't notice this with any other conversation.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Death of parent, Violence, Confinement, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Blood, Physical abuse, Stalking, Death, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol, Chronic illness, Medical content, and Sexual content

Minor: Pregnancy

atamano's review

adventurous 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Murder and Grief

Minor: Gun violence and Abandonment

bukibug's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Such a good book! It starts off a bit slow, but once you push past the first 80-100 pages it really picks up. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse

abicaro17's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.75

The pacing was so slow at times but otherwise this is a terrific fantasy novel about love, friendship, and found family. Esther and Johanna are half sisters that have been separated for years. They're from a family of magical librarians that protect spell books. When Esther is attacked at the compound in Antartica she works at, she flees to escape her attackers. At the Library in Europe, Nicholas a Scribe and his hired bodyguard Collins discover family secrets that could be killer. This book weaves the world building so effectively into the characters and their motives. Its both very YA feeling and also insanely gory and dark but very well balanced. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Violence, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Classism, Cursing, Death of parent, Medical content, and Misogyny

notthatkat's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Death of parent

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Death, Gun violence, Abandonment, Child abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Antisemitism

liss_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-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? No

3.75

Dark academia 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Gore, Murder, Death of parent, and Child abuse