Reviews with content warning for Animal cruelty - Among the Beasts & Briars

I really enjoyed this. I didn’t guess a plot twist in the first like three pages of the book but that didn’t bother me. I just really liked our characters. I thought they were funny and I really like the chemistry I’m a fucker for romance. I felt the story was interesting and kept me engaged. It kind of reminded me of the bone houses but better. I also love the diversity for sexuality’s in this.

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rain_baby's review

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adventurous dark funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

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ashleycmms's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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luosymekawa's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring fast-paced

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

4.0

“There were no perfect kingdoms with cost, and there were no stories that were completely true - or completely false.”

Uhm, hello, I love Fox and Daisy so much🥺😭 Fox as a character reminds me of Rick O’Connell from the mummy (especially when he banters with Daisy). Each character was unique and so lovable, which made the tale even more enjoyable to read. The banter between Daisy and Fox was so genuine, authentic, and sweet. As a type of fairy tale, it seems to be meant for the younger of the young adults, but with that in mind there was a fair bit of cussing.

“You aren’t alone fox. Burdens are meant to be shared.”
“...people who die never really leave...we carry them with every breath we take, until the wind itself is gone.”
“Then there would be a hole where you should have been, and I would miss whatever was supposed to fill it.”

The last few pages definitely made me tear up. This book has such a soft spot in my heart, right next to Fairest by Gail Carson Levine.

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gracew's review

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dark mysterious fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I don't really know how to rate this one. On the one hand, it kept my interest and entertained me a lot and the final twist actually did surprise me. The rest of the twists, however, not so much. I think my biggest problem is that I don't really understand the romantic relationship between the main characters. This is made all the more frustrating because there is a tease of a future wlw relationship at the end that I would have been way more invested in. Beyond the relationship thing, the world building could have been stronger. Poston's books are always hit and miss for me and while I wouldn't call this one a "miss" I do think that it was not as strong as her other works. I'm just sort of "okay" with it which is always disappointing from an another whose given me works I love.

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fromjuliereads's review

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adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

**Thank you to Harper Collins Canada for an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

I really enjoyed the book! It was fairly light for a fantasy, and was not that complicated which was nice! Would definitely recommend for anyone who doesn't normally read fantasy but wants to try something lighter.

I liked the characters for the most part, and that they were flawed. The middle to ending of the book was far better in plot development than the beginning in my opinion.
I'm not sure if this is a standalone, but it could be!! The story stands on it's own for sure.

Slight spoilers below...
I did struggle with a few things:
1. This book was VERY predictable. I basically saw everything coming. Everything. There was I think only ONE thing that surprised me. And it was honestly so small plotwise... I don't mind some things being predictable, but the majority just bugs me...

2. I was so frustrated with Cerys in the beginning. And to an extent, Fox as well. They constantly go on and on about how useless they are. How they are "just a fox" or "just a gardener's daughter." WE GET IT. It was frustrating to have it reiterated so many times when in the end they did everything anyways. It's different when a character doesn't feel confident or courageous and does something versus constantly belittling themselves even while they are wanting to do something or doing it. It was a little annoying...

3. Repetition. I swear. The same thing was explained over and over at the beginning. That might be why everything felt predictable? There were certain pieces of backstory that were repeated numerous times by Cerys within one chapter. I don't mind if it is repeated once as a reminder, but this was excessive.

4. Okay, this one might be petty. It doesn't normally bother me? But there were direct quotes and scenes taken from other things which just felt a bit cringe to me. Cerys quotes verbatim a line from Disney's Beauty and the Beast. The dancing scene from Tangled? Yeah it happens exactly. And don't even get me started on the one parallel to HP that I caught. It was not subtle. I don't mind if there are parallels to other works, but these ones just rubbed me the wrong way...

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