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booksthatburn's reviews
1463 reviews
Did not finish book. Stopped at 22%.
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Murder, Colonisation, and War
Did not finish book. Stopped at 4%.
Moderate: Confinement and Kidnapping
Did not finish book. Stopped at 31%.
Graphic: Ableism, Death, Terminal illness, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Fatphobia, Gore, Racism, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death
- 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
The story has such an intimate focus, only lightly involving anyone besides Roy and Cecily. Even though half of the story is from Cecily’s perspective, she’s so focused on trying to bring back Caroline, her deceased lover, that most details of her thoughts and history only are shown when she opens up to Roy.
The world building is consistent without trying to be particularly dense, which works very well for such a brief story. It takes advantage of a well-trod setting in the historical American west to do a lot of the heavy lifting, focusing more on the relationships between the characters and how Cecily uses her magic. Roy and Cecily have been navigating different kinds of prejudices, but their bond is more about how they connect to each other than whatever difficulties they have in relating to other people.
Things I love, in no particular order: The relationship between Roy and Cecily, the way Roy takes it on himself to make Cecily's life better even though she's capable of surviving, how much space there is for Cecily's grief and healing.
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
Minor: Miscarriage, Racism, Excrement, and Pregnancy
Did not finish book. Stopped at 5%.
Moderate: Toxic friendship
Minor: Death and Death of parent
Did not finish book. Stopped at 2%.
Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Did not finish book. Stopped at 28%.
Moderate: Drug use, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Alcohol
Minor: Death, Torture, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Medical trauma, and War
Did not finish book. Stopped at 54%.
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Trafficking, and War
Minor: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Did not finish book. Stopped at 1%.
Moderate: Excrement
Minor: Child death, Vomit, and Murder