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Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows

17 reviews

kayleypew's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

2.5

I thought the pacing was so bizarre - let’s have four paragraphs describing the clothing he’s wearing and one paragraph describing a major plot point - and often would break pace to explain something to the audience during important dialogues, so when you real the reply you have to read back to the question again. 

The intro was so painfully wordy and over descriptive of nothing happening I almost frogged it, but truly had to reread sections multiple times to stay focused long enough to put meaning to the words. Thankfully the wordiness subdues and becomes more readable. 
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sydapel's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

I need everyone to read this series, like yesterday. Absolutely gorgeous writing, tender love story set against a mysterious and brutal game of court politics. Velasin and Cae fit so well together, but Meadows allows them to find each other rather than rush their relationship, creating a delightful slow burn that feels earned. I also absolutely adore this world and how magic, gender identity and lines of succession are handled within it. Annnnddd the next one comes out this year!! 
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jessiereads98's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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? It's complicated

2.75

This book has potential it just doesn’t live up to. I really enjoyed the romance between the two main characters as well as the characters themselves. Velasin’s journey of acceptance and healing is also well handled and realistic. However, I went into this book expecting politics to play a much bigger role than they did. This book is more of a mystery than a political fantasy. I was disappointed that magic didn’t play a bigger role throughout the book as well. There were also times where the prose and dialogue felt clunky, awkward, and out of place. The occasional lecture-like dialogue from Velasin just seemed out of place with the style of the rest of the dialogue and came across as the author spoon feeding us her point. I found myself getting bored in parts and think this could’ve been shorter. There was a lot of mentions of the moons and religion which didn’t really go anywhere, along with mentions of Velasin’s siblings which served little to no point. I wish we had heard more about Riya and Laecia or other present side characters which would’ve been more relevant to the story. I personally also found the ending disappointing. Unsure if I will pick up the sequel to continue with the characters and romance and see if the promise of politics develops more. 
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shutupaboutbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.75

“But in the pale dawn light, with grief behind and grief ahead, I found I relished the danger”. I loved this book so much. The plot twist shocked me. I loved the feeling as being just as lost as the characters on their journey to solve the mystery! 
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bookcaptivated's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense 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

4.5

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jessie_h's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

5.0

I loved it! That’s the review. Go read it now.

This book, y’all. My heart is full. It made me laugh. It made me cry. It even made me gasp out loud. And it was beautifully and delightfully queer. It is hands down one of my top three favorite books of 2022 and as of right now it IS my favorite of the year. 

Someone please tell me there’s going to be a sequel or companion novel or something because I need more! More of this world and more of these characters! 

That being said there are some heavy topics in this book and the TW/CWs should be paid attention to. I will say that these topics were treated with the kindness and respect they deserved without sugarcoating them. I can only applaud Foz Meadows for her treatment of them.

TW/CW: sexual assault/rape (on page), suicidal thoughts, attempted suicide/self harm, homophobia, PTSD/trauma, violence, injury/injury detail, blood, murder, animal death (horse).*

*There are probably more but these are the major ones that I remember.

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley.
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motleybooksandtea's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? No

5.0

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