Reviews tagging 'Abortion'

Star Eater by Kerstin Hall

25 reviews

notnicolebrewer's review

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

3.75

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softieghost's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious medium-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? No

3.5

Star Eater was quite enjoyable. The world is something new (not your typical vaguely historical fantasy) and the magical concepts were engaging. I was continually surprised by the author's creativity in world building. 

On the downside, the book was a bit dense and there is a huge cast of characters. Now, the author helpfully gives you a list on the first page of everyone you need to know, but it still felt a bit jumbled. 

There were times a character would say "X person fights for OUR side" and I 1) couldn't remember who that person was and 2) couldn't remember what "that side" wanted. 

Main character seems a bit lost even up to the end as well. I never got the sense that she truly knew what she was fighting for. 
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sambutwithbooks's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

This was a cool twist on the genre but tbh I wanted more horror from a book casually described on Twitter as "cannibal nuns". I loved when the book actually leaned into the body horror aspects of the plot but when it came to the actual uh, cannibalism....it fell short. 

Especially when El learns that she's a rare type of nun whose body, when consumed to excess, would make the person eating her super powerful- I never really felt the urgency of her being basically hunted for nearly half the book. 

Another issue I fought with was how binary the plot was. The characters- especially the women- are incredibly queer but there's practically no room made for trans or non-binary characters in this world. 

The ending was a little too neatly tied up but at the end of the day I did mostly enjoy this book, I just wanted a little more from it.
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smitinghedgehog's review

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

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urs's review

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

3.75

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ghostreadin's review

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dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • 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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erikasarutobi's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

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dms's review

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

4.5

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leida's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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bentgaidin's review

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adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

4.5

 'Star Eater' is a story that pleasantly surprised me. I picked it up without knowing really anything about it beyond that it was about women who get magic by eating their mothers; I might have guessed that it would be about family trauma, but I was also amused to discover how much office politics was involved too. A lot of the story revolved around intra-group feuds among the magic wielders who control the city; despite the bloody, revolting source of their power, it's all very civilized - which is to say, full of subtle slights and fake smiles and social pressure to conform 'for your own good.' There's also a metaphorical layer about generational trauma; mothers who fear their lives being consumed by their daughters, who will be raised to fear their daughters in turn; men turned into hungry monsters, exiled but inescapable; and the constant fear of not being able to give enough to be worthy, of being bleed dry by other people's demands. The story is a little wobbly at the end, but I'd still recommend this to fans of dark fantasy (by which I mean, watch out for blood, bodily trauma, abuse and rape) - it's a really compelling and original fantasy and it's worth taking a look at. 
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