Reviews with content warning for Bullying - All our hidden gifts - La Gouvernante

Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

All our hidden gifts - La Gouvernante by Caroline O'Donoghue

67 reviews

rinku's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious medium-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

4.0

All Our Hidden Gifts was a really nice urban fantasy witch story. For what it was, I enjoyed it and especially the diverse cast and modern themes that were thematized. Still, I couldn’t stop myself from comparing the book to the Engelsfors trilogy, an urban fantasy witch story set in a small city as well, and this one just executes this kind of story better.

But those story elements are some of my favorites, especially the small city setting, so I still loved it. The story centres around Maeve who finds some tarot cards one day and becomes popular quickly at school since she can seemingly tell her schoolmates the future. When she reads her former best friend Lily some cards out of peer pressure, she lays the card of the Mamsell. After this, Lily disappears, and Maeve tries to find where she went while learning about her new magical powers. Thus, the magic system focusses on tarot cards and witches. I generally liked this witchy vibe, but some aspects were not explained properly, like how it was possible for Maeve to be suddenly in Roe’s head and vice versa.

Besides those fantasy elements, the book also deals with many modern topics with a special focus on LGBTQ+ which I quite enjoyed. There’s a religious cult that is against a progressive society and full of bigotry. I also really liked the setting and there especially the catholic girls’ school. It was depicted so well and reminded me so much of my school life; for example, when there’s one guy that is a bit younger and decent looking, everyone in school freaks out lmao, or how fast fake rumours are spreading.

Both the writing style and characters were nice as well. The writing style was funny most of the time but also serious and even creepy when it was appropriate. The diverse cast of characters the story had to offer was interesting as well and I liked our main characters. Maeve herself was interesting since she had both good and bad traits. I loved to see how her friendship with Fiona slowly started to bloom.

Like I mentioned above, I had the feeling that this book was similar to Engelsfors, especially the second book Fire. I believe that those similarities are probably coincidental, but I still noticed them. Both stories take place a small city and a religious cult plays a big role. The character constellations are similar too, with for example an old lady that has an esoteric shop in town but is a witch in reality and becomes the mentor for our main characters. But there are of course differences: Engelsfors also deals with LGBTQ+ topics but All Our Hidden Gifts does it way more extensively and is generally more progressive. The stories also have very different vibes; Engelsfors is more strange and less funny which I personally just like more.

As a sidenote, a little thing that annoyed me is how the author mixed up grunge and goth music – if you want to mention 80s/90s music in your book so that it sounds cooler, you should at least do your research. I find it a bit weird though that out of all musicians from the 80s, the author chose Morrissey, since he’s known to have controversial political opinions. The author is so careful with progressive topics generally that I think that she could’ve chosen another artist just as well. I also find it weird that it is never critically reflected but rather admired by Maeve that the underage Fiona has relationships with older guys.

There’s definitely much potential for the sequel of All Our Hidden Gifts since there are many open plot lines, and I’m excited to read it and see in which direction it develops.

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bella63096's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes

4.5

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asgard_and_cake's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective 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

4.0

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melissatttttt's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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icarly's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I really enjoyed this book and liked the aspect of the tarot cards. I enjoyed Maeve as a character, but wasn’t a fan of how quickly she was able to memorize the taro deck. Personally, I think it would have been really cool to have it so the reader could learn more about tarot along with Maeve, instead of Maeve instantly being aware of it’s ins and outs.

I thought that the ending and revealing Lily was hiding as the river the entire time was very sweet. It represented a feeling that I think we all get sometimes of wanting to feel validated and powerful, while also feeling tired and wanting a break.

I didn’t realize this was a series until just now, and am now super excited to see where the story goes from here!

I’m excited to see how they expand the ending, where they all seemed to have something magic about them.

Can’t wait to read the next one!

Overall, this book had me hooked and I was so excited as the plot unveiled itself more and more.

Also - Fiona was the best character in this book, hands down.

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matheo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious

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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kelseydaffodil's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

ahhhh i loved this book so much !

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beforeviolets's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

Thank you so much to Candlewick Press for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review!

Such an absolute blast from start to finish! I don't know how I hadn't heard of this book!

Things I loved:
- The (accurate!) use of tarot as a storytelling tool and driving force throughout the book
- Wonderful illustrations and cover design done by tarot deck illustrators
- Our show-stopping non-binary love interest, Roe! I love Roe SO MUCH!
- The details of the magic/witchcraft! Such an intricate application of magical realism!
- Diverse side characters and the focus on the queer and POC members of the cast
- The fact that we're gonna get a sequel so we get to experience even more of this world!

TW:

vomit, religious bigotry, hate crimes, homophobia, transphobia, suicide mention (past)*, suicide ideation (present)*, self harm (present)*, blood, injury, medical content, toxic friendships, bullying, alcohol consumption

*it's like... in a magical sacrifice way, not a mentally ill way

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morgan394's review against another edition

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funny hopeful mysterious tense 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? Yes

5.0

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cyan_altaria's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

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

4.75

This book is wonderful. I liked how the magic was slowly woven into the story, and how real the characters seemed. The characters were all likeable, even with their flaws (except for Aaron). I would recommend this book to anyone who likes magic, witchcraft, lgbtqia+, or realistic characters.

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