Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows

42 reviews

chiaravg's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

 The characters were great, the world building was immersive, and i enjoyed the slow burn relationship development. So, all in all, I loved everything everything except for the mystery side of things - to be honest i don't like murder mystery/detective as a genre at all, but i was willing to put up with it for this book. If I didn't have a general dislike of mystery then this book would've been a solid 4.5 stars :)
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mirandyli's review against another edition

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mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Cute queer fantasy book featuring gay princes and trans folks. All the content warnings for the beginning part. 
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terranstorm's review against another edition

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emotional slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

 It's the two leads that made this work: their emotional connection, handling each other gently, and some of the very important relationships and friends too (I LOVE both Markel and Liran). I appreciated that Vel and Cae communicated and that the plot did NOT revolve around them hurting each other needlessly (despite plenty of opportunity to hide or misunderstand). Mostly external enemies, and when it's their own fears that hold them back, they talk about it. Refreshing. It made the romance sweet and delicious and easy to love.

So clearly I had a lot of fun reading this, but the plot was fairly repetitive. An awkward mix of unexplained deaths and palace pageantry, where it seems like the same things keep happening over and over again? I toughed it out and the plot aspects got tighter in the last quarter, the finale worthwhile. The writing overall is a bit plodding and sometimes drags on, leaving me wondering why the scene hadn't already ended, and the magic was... thin. Sometimes I don't mind that but in this case it was a bit draining.

Better to focus on the romance aspects than the plot/fantasy elements. The romance was very good.
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lindsayb09's review against another edition

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I'm giving up and moving on. I checked some other reviews to see if it was going to get better, but the consensus seems to be "no". 

I wanted frothy, tropey romance, but instead I got bland characterizations and way too much sociological and political worldbuilding. I'm not much of a fantasy reader and I don't care for a whole lot of worldbuilding in general, but if I'm GOING to go through all that trouble then the characters at least better be worth it.

Instead Vel's personality is mostly built around his victimization and abandonment -- and yet, despite this being his entire character for the first 25% of the book, he suddenly and completely trusts Cae for absolutely no reason. Cae himself has no discernible personality apart from "man of action" (?)

I don't care about the political intrigue at all, and honestly the author doesn't seem to care that much either. I can't be bothered to wade through all of that just to find out if the insta-love vibes continue to develop at an unrealistic pace šŸ¤·šŸ»ā€ā™€ļø
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anderska1011's review against another edition

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4.5

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pretzel_witch's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-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? Yes

4.5

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bespectacled_lemur's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-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

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lalesbianlune's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book was very compelling, but slightly hard to read. The trigger warnings should be paid close attention to as the book not only includes but focuses on hard topics. The friendship between Markel and Velasin was definitely my favorite part, although Iā€™m always a fan of a gay arranged marriage. I did guess the plot twist/villain, but still thought it was fairly well done. I wish the ending felt less rushed, but overall an intriguing read.
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ollie_again's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

3.0

At some point I was tired of the constant shitstorm happening. If there was a peaceful moment you could be sure it will be interrupted by someone rushing in announcing someone murdered or attacked. I also got confused with who's-who on several occasions and overall the storytelling and pacing was a bit messy for me to enjoy. Some parts of the book are top notch and I will continue with the next book, however it was not the five star I was expecting.
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voidature's review against another edition

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emotional
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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