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wyrdwit's Reviews (383)
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is one of few stories I've read in recent years with a strong FMC who doesn't want to make me pull my hair out from frustration. Sain steers away from the typical "stubborn FMC" trope. While the main character, Dove, is stubborn, she also communicates reasonably well for a teenager and mostly digs her heels in when it comes to magic or the paranormal, which seems pretty reasonable as she lives in the Ozarks—a very old and notoriously haunted mountain range in the US.
The author drops just enough hints throughout the story to feed your uncertainty about the identity of the Ozark Howler, and I was actually surprised by a couple of the reveals toward the end of the book. The characters are complex, There's darkness, but there's also love. There's grief, but there's also closure. There are curses and magic and things that remind you why we're not scared of the dark itself but the things we can't see within it.
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I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
The author drops just enough hints throughout the story to feed your uncertainty about the identity of the Ozark Howler, and I was actually surprised by a couple of the reveals toward the end of the book. The characters are complex, There's darkness, but there's also love. There's grief, but there's also closure. There are curses and magic and things that remind you why we're not scared of the dark itself but the things we can't see within it.
---
I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Across hundreds of lifetimes, two souls are intertwined—fated to fall in love, and fated to die together before their lives have ever really begun.
Different time periods, geographies, and physical forms. In each, Evelyn and Arden find one another. They inevitably remember their past lives and that—by their 18th birthday—one has always killed the other, which also results in their own death. But why are they stuck in this cycle? And why can't they survive past that threshold, that milestone marking passage into adulthood? While Evelyn remembers in bits and pieces, Arden's memory remains intact. He refuses to disclose the origins of their never-ending duel, asking that she trust he does it for her own good.
Each reincarnation of Evelyn and Arden is unique, but there are certain elements of themselves they retain regardless of the body they inhabit or the situation they are born into. The author makes every version of Evelyn and Arden feel like a new individual with their same souls intact. There's a familiarity, an essence. Being able to create characters with that many layers is a feat. The writing itself is beautiful and approachable.
One of my biggest criticisms is the pacing—it was so slow that there were points I almost considered not picking it back up. There wasn't enough hinting at the "why" behind it all. You do finally get there, but it takes forever and hits you all at once. The real letdown was reading nearly the entire book to get to the big plot twist, only for it to make very little sense. It felt misaligned with the rest of the story up until that point, and the remainder of the book felt rushed trying to tie these disparate storylines together.
---
I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
Different time periods, geographies, and physical forms. In each, Evelyn and Arden find one another. They inevitably remember their past lives and that—by their 18th birthday—one has always killed the other, which also results in their own death. But why are they stuck in this cycle? And why can't they survive past that threshold, that milestone marking passage into adulthood? While Evelyn remembers in bits and pieces, Arden's memory remains intact. He refuses to disclose the origins of their never-ending duel, asking that she trust he does it for her own good.
Each reincarnation of Evelyn and Arden is unique, but there are certain elements of themselves they retain regardless of the body they inhabit or the situation they are born into. The author makes every version of Evelyn and Arden feel like a new individual with their same souls intact. There's a familiarity, an essence. Being able to create characters with that many layers is a feat. The writing itself is beautiful and approachable.
One of my biggest criticisms is the pacing—it was so slow that there were points I almost considered not picking it back up. There wasn't enough hinting at the "why" behind it all. You do finally get there, but it takes forever and hits you all at once. The real letdown was reading nearly the entire book to get to the big plot twist, only for it to make very little sense. It felt misaligned with the rest of the story up until that point, and the remainder of the book felt rushed trying to tie these disparate storylines together.
---
I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Complicated
There is beauty in destruction and regeneration. In assigning value to that which may not be precious to everyone.
Long live the objects and their unknowable humming.
Long live the humanoids within their memories of blades of grass between fingertips.
Long live the objects and their unknowable humming.
Long live the humanoids within their memories of blades of grass between fingertips.
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes