Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

64 reviews

jordanbolker's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

This book definitely got better throughout. But I admitted that the language that the book is written is a little difficult to comprehend. But loved all the longing and slow burn that occurs between Maren and Ursa and felt happy when they had that one night together. It was a good story and historice fiction novel and I appreciated the historical note at the end to summarize everything.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Murder, Violence, Blood, Domestic abuse, Genocide, and Misogyny

Moderate: Miscarriage, Classism, and Colonisation

hopeadinfinitum's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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? No

5.0

A difficult book that tears at your heart even as you can’t put it down. This book made me Feel Things with capital letters, angry and sad and hopeful and thoroughly gutted like a fish. There’s a lot of content warnings to take into account and they shouldn’t be taken lightly, but this book is so worth a read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Domestic abuse, Grief, Alcohol, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Rape, Racism, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Death, and Sexism

Moderate: Animal death, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Colonisation, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Murder

jcinf's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

I should have read the content warnings before starting this, because I’m getting tired of reading about abuse toward women 🫠

That said, I did enjoy this book for the most part. 

I’ll have to dock some points for the audiobook tax — aka: the times I forget to pay attention and listen. So take my star rating with a grain of salt. 

I enjoyed reading about this time period and this particular historical event and culture. It’s something I knew nothing about, so I like that I got to be introduced to a new topic. 

I also didn’t realize this would be LGBTQ+ because I started listening to this book on Libby and didn’t start tracking on StoryGraph until a little later. So that was a pleasant surprise for me when I found out it was queer.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Body horror

Minor: Alcohol

cuppa_t's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Animal death, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Sexism

klsreads's review

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75

I picked this up on a whim to read alongside Caliban and the Witch, and I ended up loving it. The writing is an absolute feast - I felt I could touch the world and characters. +100 for a gorgeous exploration of Sapphic desire and love. 

This book is sad but the subjects are treated with immense tenderness. Will definitely be reading more of Kiran Millwood Hargrave.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Rape, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Blood, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Infertility, Pregnancy, and Vomit

Minor: Animal death and Colonisation

jmitchell20's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This was a reread. I've been recommending this book to everyone I know for years so I wanted to check it was still as good as I'd remember, and it is! 
The writing is beautiful and the story is heart-wrenching. Read it over two miserable February days- the perfect backdrop. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, Death, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Domestic abuse

eleanorrosecugal's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Death, and Domestic abuse

excellent_taste's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

An extremely heart breaking and beautifully written piece of historical fiction. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Violence, Sexism, Murder, Sexual violence, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Death of parent, Rape, Torture, Miscarriage, Homophobia, and Death

karmachamillionaire's review

dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Infertility, Blood, Sexism, Grief, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Death, and Racism

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Alcohol

maregred's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, and Death

Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, Classism, Colonisation, Rape, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Infidelity and Sexual content