Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - A Marvellous Light

Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske

312 reviews

anna_hepworth's review against another edition

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? No

3.5

What I thought I was getting was fantasy adventure (magic in England in the ~1910s) with a romance subplot. What I got was the type of romance plot that doesn't appeal, with a varnish of fantasy adventure sub-subplot, and quite a lot of sex scenes. Maybe if I'd had the right expectations, I'd have appreciated this story more.

As it was, there are lots of interesting details, and there were some fabulous paragraphs. But I finished it somewhat out of spite, and because I have book two out of the library, waiting for me to read it. I did want to know what happened, but I didn't really want to have to deal with the romantic couple and their emotional miscommunications.

I can see that there are some interesting overarching plot threads, with three items to be found, and three books to find them in, so I have hopes that book two won't slump.

Overall summary: world building fantastic, plot a bit rough, characterisation a little off and occasionally veering towards farce, writing shows promise, particularly as this is a debut novel.

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alli_gator's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted 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

4.5

I honestly felt like this book would’ve been so much better without all of the sexual encounters that happen. The amount of them disappointed me because it felt like it became a fetishization of gay sex, when it could’ve just been a beautiful tragic romance type.

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reinydays's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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beepbeep101's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

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motherofdogs's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense 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? Yes

5.0

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ashleykhoffman's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-paced

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

2.5

I really wanted to like this, and I probably would have if 50-75 had been further edited out. It dragged so badly. It would have been an entertaining read, but the slow drag of conversations and the bits between the action was so drawn out that I was so super bored. I liked the main characters, but I didn't care about what was happening half of the time. The plot was not dramatic or intense enough to allow for the slow pace.

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sadiesaurus's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious 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

5.0

I really enjoyed this book. Edwin and Robin feel like multidimensional, deep characters with complex emotions and histories. I felt like I could connect with both of them in their histories of dysfunction with their families. The way they initially bumped heads but then grew to like each other didn't feel contrived or silly, it felt plausible and real.

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