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beemum's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
2.75
The Felicity half... I cannot for the life of me find that romance believable. I cannot believe he fell for "her" and not Jas, there was too much Jas memories and trauma mixed in with their conversations. Also Jas was FOURTEEN when they met and is still only SEVENTEEN and he's ANCIENT 🤧 The attraction and flirtation is fine but the close attachment/"love" was not there for me.
I also had an issue with the chapter where they have Felicity locked up. Misha, Brie, and Finn all felt like they were over dramatic versions of themselves. They were completely unreasonable and felt inauthentic, like a bad fanfic.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Kidnapping, and Murder
Minor: Homophobia
naomis_library05's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Physical abuse, Torture, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
justagrlandherdog's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Torture
Moderate: Body horror, Violence, and Blood
Minor: Kidnapping and War
loveat1stwrite's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
<i>Beneath These Cursed Stars</i> is the start of a new <i>These Hollow Vows</i> spin-off series. As someone who did not read the original duology, I thought that Ryan reminded the reader of enough world-building to understand what was going on, but it wasn’t very fleshed out.
The story itself is dual POV between Jasalyn and Felicity. They both undergo missions that risk their lives as well as their hearts (that’s right, we get two romances!). The romances themselves were fun. The book is focused on the romances, making it dialogue heavy and slow-paced. The heaps of secrets in this book really slowed down the plot as well. Only the reader has all the details at once, as no one wanted to truly work together and share information. I personally prefer a bit more external motivation and action sequences, compared to character-driven narratives like this one.
Felicity, I was unfortunately not a fan of. It was weird to watch her shapeshift into Jasalyn’s body and then fall in love in that body that is not her own. Her romantic interest is falling in love with Jasalyn yet is going to find out about the shapeshifting eventually. It was hard to be sympathetic. The most interesting part of Felicity’s storyline wasn’t even about her as a character but was when she was reliving Jasalyn’s memories of Mordeus’s dungeons.
That being said, I enjoyed Jasalyn’s emotional journey in this book. She starts off riddled with anxiety and depression and trades her life for a magical ring that grants her emotional stability and death’s kiss. Over the course of the novel, she questions her fear, anger, and prejudice and realizes that maybe she traded away her future too quickly. Healing from trauma is a major theme, which I enjoyed.
I think if you’re a romance fan and love slow burns that you’ll love this book, but I was expecting something a bit faster paced.
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, and Murder
booksalacarte's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
emmsbookshelf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Classism