Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin

4 reviews

vixenreader's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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

3.75

Despite some plot thread being left unresolved, and some overstuffing, this debut is impressive in its concept, sensitive protagonist, and strong female relationships. The tea has been spilled. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Animal death, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, War, Classism, Medical content, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Medical trauma, Death, and Drug use

Moderate: Gaslighting, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Bullying, Colonisation, Confinement, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, and Abandonment

Minor: Alcohol, Excrement, Cursing, Pregnancy, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

There is a heavy amount of poisoning and a conspiracy theory driving the plot.

euphemiajo's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Minor: Grief, Death, War, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Classism, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

bridge_to_narnia's review

adventurous lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

3.75

This is a lovely tale with rich lore behind it. I ended up looking for into the background of the lore grounded in real life culture, then I spent on the book. A very easy read, a little hard to get into/care for the MC (Ning) to begin with, but by the middle you are drawn in.

Cons: the romance(?). It feels like two scenes and I hate every minute of it, if the author wanted that in there, there should have been more establishment, but you can basically ignore it. Also, the lack of explanation for what the herbs do. Sometimes it's explained, sometimes not. I've tried to look them all up, but not everything could be found.

THE MAJOR CON: this ends on a cliff hanger. It it not a complete complete story, the side plot feels settled and the main plot is only halve way through. Have the sequel at hand or you will be majorly unhappy.

Overall, a nice quick relaxing read.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Abandonment, Death of parent, Murder, and War

yourfavebookhoarder's review

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty

Moderate: Grief and Death

Minor: Abandonment