Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Forestborn by Elayne Audrey Becker

8 reviews

blewballoon's review

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

4.0

This is a very well written book, with vivid world-building and interesting yet easy to grasp magic and fantasy. The characters are complex and intelligent. The tone is somber and heavy, with a sense of dread that builds from the first page and hardly relents. Arguably, the plot is a series of events going from bad to worse, a constant downward slope without many ups. For my personal preferences right now, I would have preferred there were more bright pockets to balance the reading experience. I ended up finding the plot somewhat predictable because I started just assuming the worst possible things could happen. If a slow, serious fantasy quest story is what you're in the mood for, this will work better for you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Genocide, Body horror, Abandonment, and Death

Moderate: Grief, Animal cruelty, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Racism and Xenophobia

zimmerlemon's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

4.25

Solid YA moment!! Curious to see what happens in the next one. Pretty painless worldbuilding and I can picture all the main characters really well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment and Death of parent

Moderate: Xenophobia and Death

Minor: Torture

maregred's review

adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Violence, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Abandonment, Genocide, Animal cruelty, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Blood, Death, Bullying, War, Confinement, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, and Infidelity

tinyy's review

adventurous reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

I could not stop reading this—the last 100 pages are so tense and full of plot that it was impossible to put it down, foregoing things like water and food. Fantastic. Heartbreaking. Reminiscent of the adventures in Lord of the Rings, but much easier to read ;)

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement and Animal cruelty

Minor: Death of parent and Genocide

The genocide tag is minor because it’s only in its beginning stages. Not sure if this counts as a content warning but Rora and her brother very explicitly suffer from PTSD

cgarner3's review

adventurous dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, and Gore

emmazan's review

adventurous 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
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

read on st. thomas trip

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Animal cruelty, Abandonment, and Body horror

Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, and War

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Torture, Blood, and Vomit

thecasualbooknerd's review

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Abandonment, and Genocide

Moderate: Death of parent, Murder, Self harm, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

allisonwonderlandreads's review

adventurous emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.0

I LOVE those high-stakes, underdog quest vibes and this book DELIVERS on that front. It has all kinds of good magical adventure goodies: special seeds traded for stardust, an unpredictable, untamed magic forest, and the cure for a spreading, mysterious disease on the line. 

The world-building includes shifters, who get three animal forms and can mimic any human, whisperers who can compel animals, and forest walkers who have an affinity for plants. And then there are the giants and the myriad magical creatures that fill the Vale, beautiful and dangerous.

The story has a cast of complex, flawed, easy-to-love characters. At the forefront is shifter Rora. She's a survivor, a spy, and perhaps most of all, a sister. Rora must return to the magic forest that haunts her nightmares, confront her past, and make the trade that can save her best friend's life. She will gain a new understanding of magic and disturbing information about violent, political moves being carried out in secret. Rora will reevaluate her relationships with her brother and dead mother as well as form a new friendship based on mutual trust that might slow-burn its way into something more romancey.

I loved the message about the cost of keeping the peace instead of protecting everyone's rights. There is no neutrality, just willful ignoring of existing inequalities. These facts light a fire in Rora to seek change and take action. I can't wait to see where her story goes next.

Thanks to Tor Teen and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. It's out now, so go get your hands on a copy! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Blood, Confinement, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty and Grief