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kccool12255's review against another edition
Graphic: Violence, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
Minor: Body shaming, Grief, Death, and Death of parent
yulecogs's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
0.5
Graphic: Mental illness, Sexism, Suicide, Ableism, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Self harm, Violence, Infidelity, Gaslighting, Cursing, Sexual harassment, Animal death, Body horror, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Body shaming
agenericmirkwoodelf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
So many thoughts! I don’t have time to list them all right now, but here are a couple key points:
Positives:
- The prose. Though it took a few chapters to become used to, the writing is gorgeous, and wonderfully sells the fairytale aspects of the story!
- The symbolism. So much potential for analysis here! (Though, admittedly, you really don’t have to reach far. It’s a little on the nose)
- The pacing (for the most part) was very well done! I couldn’t put it down at times! Though there was hardly any action, no part of it felt dull
It’s a good book! But, if you’re considering picking it up, please please please check the triggers! There are a lot of them!
Negatives:
- I thought the plot twist was neat! But a little obvious!
- The ending felt a bit rushed.
Graphic: Sexual violence and Sexual assault
Moderate: Self harm and Animal cruelty
Minor: Body shaming
ka_ke's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Animal death, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Blood, Body shaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Sexual content
egurgens's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
First of all, let me just say the writing in this is VULGAR. Now, I'm not afraid of smut, even graphic smut. But the author added obscene details to parts of the book where they don't belong! Like during sex, I get it. But when the character is just being dried off, you don't need to go into such detail.
Anyways. Now for the actual review. Rant over. The character of Emory is so wholly misogynistic, I wanted to stab him myself. Through the pages. As if rescuing someone makes them your property. As if her being your fiancé gives you the right to gaslight her, emotionally abuse her, and more. The men in this story are so shitty, not one is even decently mannered. You would think that the queen mother, who was in the same position as Ama, would be sympathetic. It seems as though Ama is the only sane character in the book! Like, who doesn't resent
I am sorry that I am so critical of this book. I really enjoyed the general idea, and the general plot. But some things I just cannot get over. I read the whole book, and I greatly enjoyed the end. However, the whole time I was just super frustrated with the writing and the characters. The only acceptable characters in this are Ama, Tilley, and Sorrow. That's it. Ama did grow throughout the story. She tries to accept her role, but as she learns more about it, the more uncomfortable she becomes with her role. But still, she stays long after any reasonable character would have taken some sort of action. I mean, to be fair, she has no prior knowledge of any family or anything, so she would try to make the best of things. But I think there should be a limit. It's not like she loves him, or anyone in the castle. She is not pregnant with his child. She could have left. Where would she go? I don't know. Anywhere but there. So she is a bit weak willed, but eventually takes action. Tilley isn't perfect, she was only a servant, and she obeyed what she was told. She could have helped Ama, or told her what she knew about the other Damsels. Anyways. There were no strong female characters in this book. As a 20 something woman, I think we need to do better. Women need to write strong women, to help raise other women up. Don't write every woman as pathetic or weak, have some diversity, set some good examples for your young readers. Do better, Elana K. Arnold.
TLDR: excessively obscene writing, excess of misogynistic characters, and weak willed women.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Medical content, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence
Would NOT rereadcaidyn's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicide