Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid

196 reviews

aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

slow-paced

2.5

I liked the fact this is a sort of reimagining?/interpretation of Jewish myth/folklore, but I didn't love the story overall. There were some good parts to it, but it didn't hold my interest like I was hoping for. 
Not sure if this author just isn't for me as this is my second book from them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, Death, Grief, Self harm, Sexism, Blood, Hate crime, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content

abby_can_read's review

adventurous dark slow-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

3.0

📱
I enjoyed reading this book. This is kinda what I picture as enemies-to-lovers: enemies to reluctant allies to lovers. The plot was amazing and I adored the characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Antisemitism, Death of parent, and Animal death

kellimalea's review

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I think this is a great fantasy novel for someone who is interested in an adventurous story, but doesn't want to commit to a big series. I definitely think the story could have been fleshed out into multiple books, but it doesn't suffer from lack of content. The development of relationships between people would probably make more sense if it had been stretched out over multiple books, but I think it all still works well. I love that this story draws from Hungarian and Jewish folklore/history, as these aren't common sources for most American literature. I thought the world building was phenomenal. I would recommend this book, with the caveat that it is a dark and heavy read, so may not be everybody's cup of tea.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Torture, Violence, and Gore

Minor: Colonisation, Animal death, Xenophobia, Cultural appropriation, Antisemitism, Genocide, Racism, Classism, Death, and Sexual assault

kingcrookback's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Gore, Religious bigotry, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Sexual content, Bullying, Death of parent, and Child abuse

moonchild_cos's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Animal death, Death, Gore, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Murder, Religious bigotry, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Vomit, Antisemitism, Grief, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Bullying, War, and Abandonment

Minor: Torture, Child abuse, Confinement, and Fire/Fire injury

c_dmckinney's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Bullying, Colonisation, Death of parent, Confinement, Grief, Hate crime, Misogyny, Murder, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Classism, Death, Violence, Genocide, Gore, Religious bigotry, Torture, Blood, Racism, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Sexual content, Infertility, and Sexual assault

stardust_heidi's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I have no idea how to rate this book. I listened to the audiobook. Saskia Maarleveld did an amazing job, as per usual. But the story itself... It was fine? I think part of it was what usually happens when I listen to fantasy on audiobook (for the first time) -- I miss a lot as I go about my day. And I'm fairly slumpy right now. But at the same time, it lacked something that made me look forward to listen to it every day. I think the story was solid enough for me to keep going, for sure, but not enough to love it. It was very gruesome and dark, so beware. The romance was not particularly moving, but I like how they connected by the end. The mythology and lore parts of the story are pulled from is interesting. 

I liked it okay but definitely won't reread it. I'm hoping Ava Reid's other books are better. 😬

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Violence, Emotional abuse, and Gore

immovabletype's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

3.25

man, i thought this was going to be a solid 4 stars for a good chunk of the novel, while we're following the two main characters on a quest of sorts. this is hate-to-love, and throughout their journey they're grappling with preconceptions about each other based on centuries of hatred and oppression between their people (the fantasy is very cleverly based on pagan, christian, and jewish mythology, with all the attendant real world conflicts--the author "has a degree in political science . . . focusing on religion and ethnonationalism" and her expertise shows). grappling while wanting to grapple each other, if you know what i mean. it makes for a very intimate narrative, slow-paced but propulsive . . . but then the journey ends, the world opens up, and our two lovers are separated. what was compelling me to keep reading just kind of dropped out of sight for a while and i found it harder to pick up as much as i had been, and even after they were reunited it never quite got that spark back for me. and then i loathed the epilogue.

idk. there were things that happened in the latter part of the book that i liked and i think were necessary to forward the narrative and themes. however. it just could've been done better. i will also say, this is sold as adult fantasy. i would argue it feels a lot more ya. the heroine is almost a classic ya heroine, the tropes are very ya tropes. these aren't necessarily bad things, but that's not gonna work for everyone, so i wanted to make a note of it.

i did enjoy this for the most part, i'm glad i read it because now i know that ava reid is gonna knock it out of the park for me someday (this was a debut). i'm quite looking forward to reading more from her.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Blood, Bullying, Confinement, Gore, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Religious bigotry, Violence, Murder, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Genocide, Sexual content, and Death of parent

Minor: War

Genocide is

a constant threat, but no genocide actually occurs.

triley's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Blood, Death, Gore, Self harm, and Violence

Moderate: Racism, Animal death, Antisemitism, Child death, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, and Kidnapping

Minor: Physical abuse, Grief, and Vomit

abibea's review

adventurous medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child abuse, Blood, Antisemitism, Violence, Genocide, and Self harm