Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Fortuna Sworn

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

book_hangover's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

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kirbyblue's review

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

This book was decent. I liked the concept of a nightmare as a creature, and I liked the fae world. But the main character just seemed lacking and the romance was very under developed. I feel like the plot could have been extended more as well as it felt rushed. I was somewhat frustrating as I did enjoy this book but I felt like it could have been so much better.

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genny's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I was so skeptical about this book (I kept removing and then putting it back in my e-reader, haha) but I'm glad I decided to give it a chance! I didn't know what to expect other than a "fantasy romance", so I was surprised to discover that this was more focused on the protagonist discovering the fae court and passing a series of trials. I suspect that might be a cliché in fae stories, but this is the first one I've read, so...I liked it! It was actually pretty light on the romance since Fortuna's attention is occupied by more important things, but that worked in my favor. The concept of supernatural creatures descending from

fallen angels

was cool - I hope that's explored more in the next books. This was also way more grim and gore-y than I expected.

The death of the dragon made me teary-eyed :'(

I was waiting for an explanation about Collith's extremely sudden interest in Fortuna, but we never got one, and now I'm scared that we're supposed to just accept it 💀 That can't be it though, right? He had to have known they were soulmates or whatever beforehand...right? He didn't just pick her out of a crowd, I hope. I guess I'll find out in the next book. Also intrigued by Oliver and Laurie. I thought the latter was

an angel, not a faerie king

. My idea was cooler. :P

P.S. I despise the use of the word "mate", it sounds so yucky 😭

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thebookishfarmer's review

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dark medium-paced

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

2.75

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aniwisniewski's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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annikareads_'s review

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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bookishchef's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

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

1.0

TW: Sexual Assault!

This author treats men in her story like most male authors treat female characters. The men in this book are described in what can only be called the het female equivalent of "she breasted boobily". They are only described by their eyes, penis and muscles.
That would already be bad enough, but it gets worse. The female MC, Fortuna, is a sexual predator who preys on men when they are vulnerable, and sexually assaults them multiple times in this book. This is never adressed within the text, and I truly think the author did not realize that that was what her MC was doing.

A list of the sexual scenes in this book:
- I listened to the audiobook, so I am sorry if any of the names are spelled wrong.

1. Oliver x Fortuna - one of the few consensual sex scenes. Oliver explicitly asks Fortuna for consent, because consent is apparently only attractive when it is given by the woman in a heterosexual relationship.

2. Collith x Fortuna - both start making out, Fortuna makes a grab for Colliths genitals and starts initiating sex, Collith has to push Fortuna away

3. Collith x Fortuna - Fortuna pulls Collith into a corridor and forcibly starts making out with him. She remarks on him not seeming into it, he also tries to stop Fortuna verbally, but she continues and grabs his penis. At that point he gives up and stops struggling. No consent was given here, and although Fortuna is eventually the one to push him away, she did sexually assault him.

4. Oliver x Fortuna - Fortuna does not want have a serious discussion with Oliver, so she starts making out with him. She remarks on him not being into it, Oliver has to shove her off him.

This all happens before the 55% mark!
How the fuck am I supposed to root for a sexual predator?
The worst thing is, that this book is highly rated because the vast majority of people do not recognize sexual violence against men when it happens.
After the halfway point, it does not get any better. This stuff is not seen as a character flaw to overcome, instead it is seen as a perfectly fine character trait within this book.

5. Not a sex scene. But Fortuna walks in on a passed out Collith and starts sexualizing his unconscious body, paying extra attention to his genitals. Not SA, but still very creepy.

6. Collith innitiates the sex while Fortuna is bathing. Fortuna nor Collith verbally consents here, but both seem into it, so this might be the second consensual sex scene. Fortuna starts slut-shaming other women right after this scene though, which is also not cute

It was right about here that I started struggling with paying attention to the story. The MC has to go through some trials to become the official queen of the Faerie kingdom, but I lowkey wanted her to die during all of them.
Later on, there is a conversation between Laurie (her 3rd love interest, no I am not kidding) and Fortuna, where it is said lust and sexual desires should always be given into. Like, I am sorry, but no? Absolutely not? Consent is very much necessary, thank you.

So yeah. 1/5. Do not recommend .

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