revived_reading's reviews
128 reviews

The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

The way Hallie Rubenhold writes, you can feel every single emotion she tries to convey. From dread to a bit of hope to powerless. 

This book opens your eyes not only to the lives of these 5 women, but to the lives of many, many women in the Victorian era. 

Hallie Rubenhold truly gave back these women their stories and their lives. She gave them the respect they were never given. She gave them justice. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Grief, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Moderate: Terminal illness, Suicide, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Child death, and Domestic abuse

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk

emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

As a psychology major, this books is a wonderful read. It’s chock full of information on trauma, from the neuroscience and history of trauma research to just a few of the many treatments of trauma. Dr. van der Kolk dedicated his career to trauma research and really put care into writing this book to share this information that, unless you were to read academic journals, is not readily available to the general public or trauma victims. 

After taking the months to read this book (seeing as the content is very heavy and there is a lot of material), I learned so much. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Pedophilia, Car accident, Child abuse, Incest, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Chronic illness, Abandonment, Addiction, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, War, Adult/minor relationship, and Alcoholism

Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, and Kidnapping

This has very triggering content, seeing as this book discusses trauma. To put the research of this book into perspective, Dr. van der Kolk tells the stories of some of his patients. None of which is pretty, but it has its impact and use within the book.

How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories by Holly Black

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad fast-paced

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

5.0

Learning about Cardan’s past really lifts the Folk of the Air trilogy. Not to mention, I loved how it contained things beyond Queen of Nothing. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Bullying, and Violence

Minor: Sexual content

The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black

adventurous emotional funny 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? It's complicated

4.75

I absolutely adore the ending to this trilogy!! Holly Black truly outdid herself. This has become one of my top favorites! 
As with the others, it’s a 5 star book, aside from some odd phrasings here and there. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Sexual content, and War

Minor: Death of parent and Pregnancy

The Wicked King by Holly Black

adventurous emotional funny 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

4.75

Absolutely loved this book! However, as with book 1, the only reason it doesn't get 5 stars is because I felt some of the wording was a bit odd. Otherwise, another amazing read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Sexual content, and Torture

Minor: Death of parent, Drug use, and Alcoholism

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.75

There were some times in the story where I was quite confused with the wording, which is the only reason I’m not giving this book 5 stars. Overall, it made me squeal and scream and want to hurl my book at a wall. That’s when I know it’s a good book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, Death, Blood, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Bullying, and Drug use

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Incest and Self harm

The Dark Days Deceit by Alison Goodman

adventurous dark emotional tense 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? No

3.5

This book was great, however I felt that the ending was quite abrupt. There was an unexpected plot twist that I felt came seemingly out of nowhere. It didn’t quite make sense. 

The Dark Days Pact by Alison Goodman

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.75

The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.75

I absolutely adored the effort that Alison Goodman put into the historical accuracy! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Violence

Minor: Death of parent

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia

inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.5

So technically, I rate this book 4.5 stars. Spoilers ahead so be warned! My only complaint is how the reveal came to everyone around her that Eliza wrote the comic. It was a bit… sudden, in my opinion and that made the rest of the book feel a bit odd. Particularly the final 2-3 chapters. Otherwise, this book was absolutely phenomenal. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Suicidal thoughts