Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Godly Heathens by H.E. Edgmon

5 reviews

tattooedbibliophile's review

adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Chronic illness

Minor: Body horror, Child abuse, Self harm, Abandonment, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Deadnaming, and Torture

guybrushtmp's review against another edition

This ARC was provided by NetGalley and Daphne Press (Illumicrate's Press arm), NOT Wednesday (St Martin's Press). I support the boycott of St. Martin’s Press.

DNF: 75%. I choose to DNF this book as I found it mentally much more challenging than I am currently able to handle and felt it wasn't suited for me. I am giving this a 3.5 stars, but I think many will rate this higher for them.

This book is a lot. I tend to stick to happy even when labelled as a dark book, but this is wearing some scars that feel familiar and painful. And likely because it is very raw about mental health and the people are messy and mean at times (not the mean girl mean, but the other I say hurtful things mean). Some of those things (a lot of the first) I found myself slightly relating to but more being overwhelmed by empathy to the point it hurts.

For its intended young adults, I think this book holds something precious, something more unique than many of the generic fantasy YA books out there. There is a lot of angst and these character hurt each other with words like knives. But it is wonderfully written, queer af, and an interesting plot. Read your trigger warnings going in. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Kidnapping, and Self harm

caseythereader's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Thanks to Wednesday Books for the free copy of this book.

 - Wow, this book. GODLY HEATHENS is H.E. Edgmon leaning into his full talent as a writer of angry, messy, queer af kids desperate to find their place in the world.
- The mythology here is so cool, and so detailed and tangled I could believe it was real. And the "real world" people and plot threads felt messily real, too.
- This book mashes together queerness and small towns and mental illness and thousand year old gods and it works beautifully. I can't wait to see what happens next. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Mental illness, Murder, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Sexual content, Abandonment, Blood, Child death, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Grief

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

ladykyuuketsuki's review

dark 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Torture, Death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Animal death, Body horror, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Cursing, Emotional abuse, and Abandonment

Minor: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Ableism, Colonisation, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

kharlan3's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

Gem is a nonbinary teen living in small town Georgia, and things have never felt quite right- especially that their best friend lives all the way in New York City. This not-right-ness comes to a head as disconcerting things start to happen and Gem learns that they're a reincarnation of a god from another universe, in the midst of a generation-spanning war for the lives of their fellow gods and the world they left behind. 

I completely adored this book. Gem is complex- I rooted for them, but they make bad, messy, heartfelt decisions left and right. The thing that this book did the best was Gem's inner life- the combination of their mental health issues and the memories of their past lives flowing together, the all-consuming yearning that can't be contained to a single object of affection, the coping skills they try to use but aren't quite enough. I haven't seen quite this point of view on trans-ness, gender, mental illness, and growing up in the rural south anywhere else.

This book ends on a cliffhanger, and I can't wait for the next one- H.E. Edgmon hasn't disappointed me yet!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Transphobia, Mental illness, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Vomit, Torture, Infidelity, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Self harm, War, and Suicidal thoughts