Reviews tagging 'Grief'

A Far Wilder Magic by Allison Saft

37 reviews

miagic_tome's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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? Yes

3.75

This was a fun and unique fantasy book that is pretty east to read. I thoroughly enjoyed it but there were some parts that I really thought could've used another round or two of editing, mostly in the world building parts. 

The Sumic, Yu'adir, and Kathartist religions were interesting in their differing interpretations on the same topics, like the Demiurge. But the almost one to one comparisons of language and practices to real life religions was so off putting it took me out of immersion. Reading words like Bible and confession felt so out of place in this story that tries so hard to be fantastical. Not to mention the very blatant antisemitic conspiracy theories that occurred within the world. How many religious groups can be hated for secretly controlling all the banks? At least two apparently. Considering how important it was that the main characters were religious minorities, these uncanny mentions happen quite a few times and it really struck me as odd every time, I feel like there are new practices and forms of hatred that could've taken place. 

Despite the above, I really enjoyed the interactions between all the characters, good and bad. Margaret and Wes's inner monologues were immersive I loved both of them going from hate/indifference to begrudging companionship to.... more. Oh but it was like deja vu to see

the two of them having a heart to heart next to an injured dying animal while she points her gun at him for seemingly no reason than to raise the tension? twice. How did that exact situation happen twice?

 

As complainy as this review has been, I did enjoy this book and am open to reading more works from this author at some point. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, and Grief

Moderate: Religious bigotry

Minor: Sexual content and Death of parent

callistag1's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Xenophobia, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Grief, Abandonment, Religious bigotry, Emotional abuse, Violence, Classism, Animal death, and Blood

Minor: Colonisation, Death, Child death, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

zoeelora's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, Abandonment, Xenophobia, Grief, Animal death, Hate crime, Animal cruelty, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Blood, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Alcohol, and Gun violence

larosamorada's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Xenophobia, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Antisemitism

Has excellent PTSD, Dyslexia & ADHD rep.

johnstonsami's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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: Colonisation, Cursing, Blood, Bullying, Grief, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Classism, Abandonment, Antisemitism, Child death, and Death

erinreadsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring tense 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? Yes

4.5

I liked the character-focused storyline of this book—I found both main characters very compelling and I like that the reader is given a lot of time with them to truly know them

before they fall for each other, which makes their happy ending all the more believable and rewarding

. Some of the worldbuilding is a little vague (the different religious sects, the rules/history behind the hunt, etc.) which was a bit distracting at times but didn’t detract hugely from my enjoyment and investment in the story. 

Read if you like satisfying, emotional, character-based romance. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Child abuse, Death of parent, Gun violence, Animal death, Emotional abuse, and Grief

ctara2123's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, Abandonment, Death, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, and Animal death

Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, and Sexual content

edamamebean's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective 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

Wow, wow, wow I really loved this book. I truly did not want it to end, and I will be reading all of Allison Saft’s other books. I honestly think this would make a perfect Studio Ghibli movie—it’s so atmospheric and the characters are lovable. The only reason I haven’t rated this book 5 stars is because it becomes kind of clear while reading that their world is analogous of our own. The religions are sloppily painted over versions of Protestantism, Judaism, and Catholicism and the result was kind of jarring to read. Not only was it confusing, but it was also a little frustrating that the mental labor was put on me as the reader to fall back on my own knowledge of world religions instead of on her as the author to create a world that was unique to the story. That being said, I understand what she was trying to say about anti-immigrant and antisemitism in America and I can appreciate it. It’s easy to forgive when the rest of this book was an absolute delight. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Gun violence, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Violence, Religious bigotry, Grief, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Child death, Alcohol, and Abandonment

alexijai98's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective 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

4.0

Solid YA romantasy! Give me more stories with a scary girl and her sad wet bf! 

Be warned, this is definitely a ROMANtasy. The fantasy aspects are throughout the whole book, but the action mostly revolves around the protagonists’ romance - which I didn’t mind because I loved them both! Reading this made me feel fuzzy inside, the way it felt to read a stunning fanfiction back in 2014 (you know the ones with the titles in all lowercase, don’t pretend not to!). There is also some heavy-hitting Mommy Issue content in here that had my feeling some kind of way, so keep that in mind!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Religious bigotry, Violence, Alcohol, Xenophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Child death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Abandonment, Animal death, Classism, and Death of parent

Moderate: Colonisation

kendal_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Death, Religious bigotry, and Animal death

Moderate: Grief, Sexual content, Abandonment, and Emotional abuse