Reviews with content warning for Death - Belle Révolte

Reviews tagging 'Death'

Belle Révolte by Linsey Miller

10 reviews

ohmage_resistance's review

adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

There were a lot of good ideas of this book, but it really needed another pass through an editor to come together. Some parts were really good, some parts were weaker, and there was a lot that was disjointed. For example, the transitions between scenes got needlessly confusing. I liked the magic system, but it was never clearly explained, and there was a lot that we were still learning about it right up until the end of the novel. I think it should have been explained and consistently stayed in that boundary. I never got a solid explanation of how it worked, and this would be needed for the plot to make sense. Honestly, I mostly enjoyed reading it, because of both the genuinely good ideas.

One of the two main characters (Annette) is biromantic asexual, and this representation was pretty good! It wasn’t a major focus, but it did touch on things I don’t typically see brought up in representation, like how asexuality and female gender expectations intersect.

Content Warnings

elizajaquays's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark slow-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

astralbooks's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

anniereads221's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

melaniereadsbooks's review

Go to review page

adventurous tense slow-paced

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

4.25

This book took me quite a bit to get into, but once I was there I was in love! It kind of has a slow start and takes a little while to understand all the different characters and their motivations, but gets so good in the second half. I really love the magic system in this book so much! The war plot was also incredibly interesting and I loved where they went. There were twists and turns that I wasn't expecting and was so pleasantly surprised by. I loved the characters and the writing!

Content Warnings

foreverinastory's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

Rep: Biromantic asexual female MC (Annette), sapphic BIPOC love interest, lesbian side character, trans male side character, side BIPOC characters.

CWs: Blood, body horror, death, war, violence, sexism, murder, medical content, gore, grief, transphobia, misogyny, cursing, torture, past child death.

Content Warnings

turtlebrainlibrarian's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

annalisaely's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

Excellent world building and characters, ripped out my heart, wonderful asexual rep that I can speak to, plus trans characters and f/f relationships.

Content Warnings

malloryfitz's review

Go to review page

3.5

Content Warnings

ghosthermione's review

Go to review page

4.0

I read this as an ebook… on my phone… And it took me the best part of forever, but I’m blaming the format rather than the book itself, which I did quite enjoy!

I feel like the summary is a bit too mild for the novel. It’s not just that the two girls switch lives. Throughout, they both want to change the way the world works, to go against prejudice whether that’s sexism or the abuse of the poor, and really they’re tied hand in hand.

I enjoyed the way the author creates a whole system that magic works in her universe (or rather, that magic is taught) and how that informs its own kinds of bigotry for our heroines to fight again. I enjoyed even more how these dynamics played out, and she did not hesitate to interrogate the motivations of her characters, with Emily especially taking into account her privilege as a rich girl, and the fact that her dreams of becoming a physician and showing the men in power what a woman can do was… actually pretty narrow-minded and self centered compared to everything else.

I knew it was queer but I expected, as always when there’s two main leads, that it would be between them. It’s not. They each have their love interests, and there’s loads of representation besides. I really enjoyed the ace rep especially, it’s way too rare to see it in books and it was done very well – but also the trans and nonbinary rep. The leads don’t have any issues with it but it’s clear that not all society agrees, and it’s one of the things our rebel friends fight for. And both main relationships were wildly different but equally satisfying. As were the friendship and loyalty between Emily and Annette, and all “good” characters’ relationships if I’m being honest. The relationships (in the wider sense, not just romantic) are really what made the book for me.

Without spoiling, the “twist” at the end with regards to the leaders of the revolution made a lot of sense, though it was maybe not bold enough. Another thing that really threw me off was the French. I mean it’s in the title, but the whole universe is French-inspired, and it’s off-putting (as a French speaker, for those who don’t know me) to see French words for titles, as well as first names, in the middle of sentences. Especially when there’s perfectly good English words for the same. Also, it’s Pierre, not Pièrre. It’s tiny but it really threw me every single time I read it… But I mean, this is my main criticism and it’s mainly down to me being prissy.

I did have a hard time getting into it but that’s also mostly because ebooks and I aren’t great friends. Then the pace picked up and I really couldn’t wait to find out what happened next. Now I gotta get over the fact that it’s a standalone, but I’m also really satisfied with the way it wrapped up.

Content Warnings

More...