Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

The Weaver and the Witch Queen by Genevieve Gornichec

7 reviews

elorathesun's review against another edition

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

4.25


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aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

3.75

As someone who loved The Witch's Heart, I had high hopes for this. It unfortunately doesn't come close to how much I loved the author's previous work, but I still really enjoyed it. Love that one character is explicitly demi-sexual with stating how they can't do intimacy without really knowing someone first (love the ace/aro rep) and one character is trans. Overall loved the story and the little twists/reveals. The main characters are good as well even though they frustrated me at times throughout. Many of the minor characters were great though.
I will say there are a lot of slow spots for me and I didn't have the same intense emotions reading it as the authors previous book, and those are big reasons it wasn't a 5star read like The Witch's Heart for me. I will still totally look forward to any books or work this author does in the future!
Check trigger/content warnings although nothing was super graphic stuff was still detailed and mentioned.

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mzgeee53's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional informative tense 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

4.0


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netanya_shira's review against another edition

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4.0


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reclusivebookslug's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging 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

4.25

I find that many, if not most, descriptions of conflict within friend and/or sibling relationships, especially between women and girls cast one as a sort of antagonist, often seemingly unintentionally. Even in stories where the story ends with them having a good relationship, I'm left with a strong dislike for one of them and indignation on behalf of the one I perceived as having been victimized. For this reason, I often struggle to fully enjoy or buy into narratives with a theme of sisterhood or female solidarity.

In this book, Gornichec handles beautifully the complicated relationships between three women -- two sisters and their friend, all "sworn sisters" -- who have very different personalities, goals, and struggles, which sometimes come into conflict with each other. She also portrays the female antagonists with surprising depth and empathy. It is not "the duality of women: good and evil," it's just different women in different circumstances doing what they can to protect their own interests within the framework of both society and their own individual sense of the world. This is an excellent example of writing female villains and interpersonal conflict between women without encroaching into misogynistic tropes/undertones and instead using all these various female narratives to tell a story of women's strength.

With that in mind, I'd posit that the three things that separate the three sworn sister protagonists from the three witches who are trying to separate them are: genuine care/respect for their allies, acting upon their free will rather than trying to conform to or escape from a prescribed reality (AKA not basing their actions on a prophecy), and an ongoing self-reflection of their actions and allegiances. While I love historical fantasy and I think this book does an excellent job of it, what really stood out to me was the emotional intelligence, growth, and complexity of all the major characters.

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morethanmylupus's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • 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

4.0

I was excited to read this book because I loved Gornichec's [book:The Witch's Heart|53438195] so much. I loved this story about Gunnhild, Oddny, and Signy. The story is compelling and focuses on both the some of the beliefs of Viking-era people and themes of found family. I appreciated how the women stood together to fight evil - despite everything they'd been through. 

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tfarfan's review

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adventurous emotional 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

4.0


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