Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Lost Dreamer by Lizz Huerta

5 reviews

diessy's review

adventurous emotional inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.75

When I read the climax of this book I had to close the book, stand up from my desk, walk to a mirror, and stare at myself for a solid 5 minutes. I was floored. I'm usually not a fan of enigmatic storytelling but from start to finish I was captivated. From the plot structure to the motifs, every decision that Lizz Huerta made when writing The Lost Dreamer was full of meaning and revealed such an intimate care for both storytelling and family. ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL 😭😭😭😭 I don't write reviews but Lizz Huerta deserves so much praise for this.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Violence

Minor: Trafficking, Slavery, Sexual assault, Death, and Kidnapping

readingwithkaitlyn's review

adventurous 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? No

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Miscarriage, Violence, Drug abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, and Kidnapping

Minor: Trafficking

Sacrifices, starvation.

kshertz's review

mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

I think this one might have been too hyped up for me. The writing is gorgeous and I love the style. But it’s a slow burn where I felt like not a lot happened until halfway through. I didn’t connect to the characters. I did like the twist but not enough to keep going with the series.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Abandonment, Colonisation, Death, Infertility, Pregnancy, and Violence

z_thatsit's review

adventurous emotional 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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, War, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, and Death

Minor: Death of parent, Infertility, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexual content, Murder, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

thebakerbookworm's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

I wanted to like this story more than I did. With such an interesting premise, and that gorgeous cover, it sounded right up my alley, but sadly did not grip me how I would have liked.

Let's start with the good:
- two main female characters who each have a coming-of-age story that is compelling and admirable.
- excellent narration of the audio
- interesting magic system
- ancient Mesoamerica inspiration made for a unique world/setting that I haven't seen in a YA fantasy book before
- a few good side characters

And then the parts I didn't enjoy:
- slow slow slow, especially the first half
- not enough world building; such a fascinating world yet by the end of the book I still was not sure how certain things worked and did not know much more about this world than I did at the beginning
- a lot of characters; I kept getting people mixed up
- the two main characters had similar voices so I also got them mixed up unfortunately
- that twist at the end that felt more like the rug was being pulled out from beneath me than a good "ohhhhhh" moment
- it's not a standalone...but I didn't know that until I realized I only had five minutes left of the audiobook and things were not getting wrapped up at all

So that about sums it up. I still liked the read, but I'm not sure I'll read the sequel. (I have a feeling by the time it comes out, it just won't be on my radar anymore and I won't remember what happened in this one...)

Thank you to Libro.fm, Macmillan Audio, and the author for my ALC!

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence and Emotional abuse