Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

A Court This Cruel and Lovely by Stacia Stark

3 reviews

vdspreads's review

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I really like this story. I'm not a huge fan of various POVs, but it really did work for the storytelling. It is a story of discovery and rebellion that doesn't take itself too seriously.

To me, the narrative is an oberservational view of what powe can do. How power can corrupt and how if wielded by those with ill intentions, it can be used to to oppress, limit access, and create a history that is believed by the masses. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Medical content, Death, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Bullying, Deportation, Drug use, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Torture, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Religious bigotry

katvou's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated

4.25

Fantasy romance with forced proximity (one horse trope), found family and enemies to lovers / forbidden romance. Revenge, bargains & betrayal. Interesting and unique magic system.

Mostly I really liked the book and the FMC. The pace was a bit slow to my taste in the middle of the book and it felt like there wasn’t really anything interesting going on but I liked both the beginning and end. End had some nice twist, some I was able to guess beforehand but some were a surprise.

Definitely going to read the rest of the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Child death, Death of parent, and Kidnapping

Minor: Toxic friendship, Sexual violence, Vomit, Cannibalism, Sexual harassment, Excrement, Medical content, Rape, Body horror, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

wickedgrumpy's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

So many tropes were checked off in this book.

The world building is interesting and mysterious enough that I will probably eventually continue, if only because it's an easy read with low personal stakes since I didn't really care about the characters.  The banter was amusing and the plotting was fun.  There were some pacing issues, but it was kind of necessary plot-wise so I'm not bothered by it.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Bullying, Child death, Classism, Slavery, Violence, Alcohol, Death of parent, Medical content, Murder, Vomit, Blood, Body shaming, Genocide, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Body horror, Confinement, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Stalking, War, Xenophobia, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Outing, Police brutality, Sexism, Self harm, Cursing, Death, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping