Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Alchemy Of Moonlight by David Ferraro

5 reviews

its_vendetta's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

It's giving "and we'll do it with the power of friendship" but like I'm not mad about it.
Mixed feelings throughout the book, but I decided to round up to 4 bc I truly did enjoy it! 

Mostly rounded up bc they all ended up together in a poly relationship!! THANK GOD. I was going to lose it if he ended up only picking one of them after ALL OF THAT.

I think the thing that threw me off was the amount of plot twists in the book. Like kept me on the edge of my seat for sure, but by the end, I was just expecting another "BUT WAIT-" I just didn't trust anything by the end, which could be a good or bad thing depending on what you like.
I think it was overall a pretty cool book. Loved the romance and tension and the resolution was satisfying for me. The characters had faults which I enjoyed. The plot was tense and horrific at times, but the book had enough lighthearted dialogue and romance to balance it out. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Death, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Kidnapping, Suicide, Homophobia, Confinement, Death of parent, and Medical content

Minor: Classism, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Emotional abuse

lanid's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Confinement, Death, Gore, and Murder

Minor: Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, and Physical abuse

leedolee's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

A fast-paced read that kept you on your toes and didn't keep you waiting too long for the story to progress. Definitely a lot more intense when it came to the violence and gore elements so that's my only warning to future readers. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Murder, Torture, Violence, Grief, Blood, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Medical content, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

20sidedbi's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I found the main character fairly unbelievable... A book nerd who couldn't figure out he was living with

werewolves

? And I'm not sure I totally followed a love interest's

redemption arc

.
The last couple chapters of this book bumped it up from a 2 to a 3⭐ for me. It's really cool to see an ending with

polyamory as the solution to a love triangle

! And the narrative really picked up in the last part of the book. Honestly, if the MC were better developed and the one love interest not so villainous at the beginning, it would have been really good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Gore, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Violence, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

Horror

utopiastateofmind's review against another edition

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)

The Alchemy of Moonlight is a perfect combination of regency gothic setting with fantasy. Ferraro details a rich setting of inheritances and dangerous gardens. In order to gain his inheritance and be free of his aunt's homophobia, Emile goes undercover as a servant hoping to wait out the six months until his birthday. The foundation of the story is Emile's desire to be seen and loved for who he is. To live a life where he's free to choose and not forced to marry in name only.

From the beginning, I loved Emile's character as he struggles to be a proficient servant all while fighting for the hope for love. Emile's situation is incredibly precarious and dangerous risking losing his fortune, but also institutionalization. My heart was in my chest for Emile. The Alchemy of Moonlight is a story which creeps up on you. Ferraro sprinkles in elements of the supernatural, clues, and disbelief. With love triangle vibes - albeit with some pretty complicated mistakes - Emile's story forces him to find people who can see him.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Domestic abuse