Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by Brom

122 reviews

kumquats87's review

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Blood, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Racial slurs, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Slavery, Vomit, and Colonisation

bitteralbatross's review

dark

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Misogyny, Sexism, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Racism, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

dominika_lorazo's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

The story is really good, it’s giving dark fairy tale and a vibe similar to Midnight Mass (Tv show) (although not as philosophical). 

Characters are good. Main characters are lovable. Even Forest who is a small antagonist is well written (good motivation even if his actions are questionable sometimes). Some of the villains can seem cliche but their actions seem appropriate for their time period (And some people are just assholes). This point was more than redeemed by the antagonists (the wildfolk). The shaman was probably my least favourite.

The story has a medium-pace.  Some say it’s slow-paced in the middle and it’s true but it’s still entertaining (might be hard if you have a short attention span though). The beginning and ending have more of a dark fairy tale, horror genre. The middle of the story is more whimsical. The ending is very “happily ever after” and I never minded those.

Things I liked:

- Samson/slewfoot is probably the best character. I like how he is not really the cliche “devil” or “Satan” but more of a Grey character spirit of the forest. He also has a great character arc.
- the historical - witchy feel.
- dark but magical like a fairy tale
- Forest annoyed me sometimes but his motives were so good I ended up feeling bad for him and liking his character
-the overall addition of folklore and native folklore

Things I disliked

- the shaman was great for Samson’s character arc and that was obviously his only purpose but he is a bit of a cliche villain
-Abitha died at the end but came back to life. It cheapened her death and the effect it had on Samson. But except for that, the rest of the happily ever after was exactly how I hoped it would go.
-The world building could have been better. I wish there was more emphasis on the folklore (the Wildfolk and spirits). It was more of a backstory in the book, the main focus was on Abitha and her female empowerment/ girl boss story which is not necessarily bad. However, I wish we had more of that folklore/ fairy tale magic

TW:
racism and colonialism- It is appropriate for the time period. The racist characters were the villains. I would say the main characters were more respectful.
Blood, gore and violence- it was graphic but not extremely terrible (I’ve definitely seen worse)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Colonisation and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism and Alcohol

TW: racism and colonialism- It is appropriate for the time period. The racist characters were the mostly the villains. I would say the main characters were more respectful. Blood, gore and violence- it was graphic but not extremely terrible (I’ve definitely seen worse)

nchipp's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Mental illness, Rape, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, and Colonisation

the cat dies

geilie's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

yenanena's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexism, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Colonisation

ginpartini's review

dark sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

The only reason this book is getting 2 stars instead of 1 is because it didn’t make me verbally scoff. This book relies heavily on repetitive themes of religious zealotry, misogyny, mysticism and violence. However, the author manages to flatten these mighty themes into shallow bandaids on an unremarkable story. The characters, plot, actions, and ending are all devoid of meaning or even entertainment value.

<spoilers> A few chapters are dedicated to a witch trial and then torture of the accused. The witch does get revenge in what should have been a dramatic ending. All of this felt unearned. The writing was empty, and copied what had been written before. So much so that I started skimming some pages because it felt like I was reading the same paragraphs.

I think the most disappointing aspect was that many characters and elements were introduced into the book that could have been so exciting. A multitude of gods, ancient wild folk, a bleeding tree, a coven of women, etc. Most were left unexplored and felt very unimaginative, as if the author started just throwing in plot points to salvage the level of interest from the reader. I would not recommend to even the most dedicated reader unless they’re looking to feel bereft and disappointed. </spoilers>

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Minor: Gore

ayereads's review

adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Sometimes. Just sometimes, a town deserves a visit from the Devil itself.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, and Blood

swiveller's review

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

lilacs_book_bower's review

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Slewfoot introduces the reader to a young woman named Abitha and a mysterious creature named Samson. Abitha finds it difficult to live with her Puritan neighbors in the 1600s American colonies.  She struggles to run her farm, while her brother in law is harassing her and trying to steal her land, and is using sexism and misogyny to stir up others.  After she meets Samson and he helps her with the farm, she has to decide if he is good or evil, the Devil or something else.  Samson struggles with his identity and what he is, while Abitha is struggling with her faith and childhood beliefs in light of what Samson can do.  Things are getting uglier, and deadlier, as Abitha's brother in law becomes more and more desperate to steal her land and is willing to make false accusations of witchcraft to get his way....
I have a lot of "it's complicated" and "a mix" as answers.  All characters are flawed, but some are their own perceived flaws and some are flaws that other people say they have. I will say that I liked Abitha and Samson as characters, and a few others more than I expected to.  I also admit that I don't know much about the spiritual beliefs of Indigenous Peoples (and I know that is not a homogenous thing, one size fits all). At times, I was a little taken out of the book, trying to classify different aspects; it was perhaps a mix of Indigenous  spiritual beliefs, wiccan, and Celtic beliefs, along with Mother Earth and some sort of serpent gods or representatives?  Having the fantastic element be a mix is totally fine of course, but made it harder for me to figure out the connections and predict things, but it is good to have a book that keeps you guessing! I appreciate that Brom did speak with a consultant regarding the Pequot tribe, as they are featured here in the book.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

I don't think anyone will be surprised by Abitha being accused of witchcraft or how deadly that becomes. I was surprised about the character that Abitha let live, and didn't feel he was punished enough. Her final form was kind of fun though and I liked the epilogue.