Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Gwen and Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher

4 reviews

fanboyriot's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted 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

♡ Rom Com

♡ Royal Fantasy Vibes

♡ The Lady Gets the Knight (but make it Sapphic)

I loved the humor in this book.  The way the characters interacted was nicely done as well. 

When I read this I wasn’t in much of a mood for it but pushed through and ended up really enjoying it.  The plot wasn’t too confusing as some fantasy books can be, but this kept my interest.  It was such an entertaining read.

And the queer rep was better than I was expecting actually.

Spice Level: n/a

Angst Level: 💧(1/5)

POV: Duel, Third Person

Release Date: 28, November 2023

Rep: Sapphic (Main Couple), Achillean (Main Couple), Thai (Side Character), Biracial Iranian/White (Side Character)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death, War, Death of parent, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Blood

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Vomit, Grief, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Medical trauma, Alcoholism, Murder, Misogyny, Sexism, Alcohol, and Medical content

Minor: Kidnapping, Animal death, Gaslighting, Biphobia, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Gore, and Outing

vagaybond's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

giggling blushing twirling my hair kicking my feet copypasta

I mean to be clear some bad stuff happens but mostly I feel love for my gays

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Alcohol, Gore, War, Medical content, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Cursing

Moderate: Body horror

Minor: Medical trauma, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Kidnapping, and Sexism

On page murder of the father of two main characters in a battle scene near the end.

There's some internalized homophobia in Gabe that he sort of extends to his sister, but it's acknowledged as projection and is something he works through.

bubbles_ishere's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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

3.75

While I did really enjoy the book and the way the characters developed, I felt like it rushed at parts in order to have a lot of things happen. 

I would have preferred further introspection from the characters before acting, but for people who like to read books where things "happen", this is a good choice. 

The book very much feels like a romance that decides half way through that other plot events are more relevant and then decides to change genre. 

Spoiler for how plot/character focused the book was during certain events:

At first it felt like the book would focus further on the interpersonal relationships of the characters. In the beginning, a lot of time was spent on the characters panicking over being in situations. The first kisses of the couples got portrayed, after which the characters had to face various challenges to come to terms with their feelings. However, when it came to actually getting into a relationship or showing the conversations needed for that to happen the author skipped forward and just told the audience that the couples were now in functioning relationships, caused by a major plot event. 

Personally, I would've preferred to see how the characters got to where they are, instead of being told that the threat of death made them realise their priorities and then see them kiss.

I really liked how the characters developed and got more loveable to the reader; their actions seemed to make sense in the context of their character, and the development of their actions made sense. 

The romance itself felt a bit rushed to me, but it is still enjoyable, if somewhat frustrating because it doesn't go very in-depth and fails to resolve or address certain topics.

The book mentions a few tidbits that fans of Arthurian legends will recognise, which I thought was very nice. 

All in all an enjoyable read, in my opinion this book would've been 5/5 stars had it been 200 pages longer and actually explored the relationships and worldbuilding further. But then again I really like high-fantasy and worldbuilding.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Alcoholism, Death, Violence, Death of parent, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Outing, Sexism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Classism, Drug use, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, and Religious bigotry

krisalexcole's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: War, Death, Medical content, Sexism, Chronic illness, Gore, Death of parent, Hate crime, Murder, Blood, and Homophobia

Minor: Self harm, Cursing, Grief, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry