Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Weyward by Emilia Hart

129 reviews

haileyreiss's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.75

I did enjoy this even though it was pretty bleak at times. It's a fascinating portrayal of 3 women across 3 different time periods and the unique challenges they face as women in those times. And, of course, there's nature magic (woo!). The multicast audiobook was truly excellent and added variety to each narrative. Moreover, I was really engaged in each woman's story.

Despite reading Vincent Bugliosi's Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders at the same time as this, I was surprised and a little unnerved by how graphic some of this book was. I also find myself agreeing with some reviewers who felt that these scenes were a bit unnecessarily graphic. It did feel like they served more of a shock value than a narrative purpose. I think a vaguer description of a certain scene would have gotten the point across just as well as the detailed description did--without feeling needlessly shocking. I think most readers who would gravitate towards this book are pretty aware of the physical violence that some women face, so I question why there was a need to be so detailed about it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, and Miscarriage

Minor: Abortion

joemaama's review against another edition

mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, and Rape

coffeesaurusrex's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Child abuse

Moderate: Abortion

jantze's review against another edition

emotional inspiring mysterious sad fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

Beautifully written and the author weaves together the stories of the three women Altha, Violet, and Kate so well and so beautifully it leaves you wanting to keep reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Rape, Child abuse, Abortion, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Medical trauma

nialiversuch's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Violence, Vomit, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Car accident, Death, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Abortion, Body horror, Death of parent, Infertility, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, and Pregnancy

cassie7e's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

This is the kind of story I hoped for from A Secret History of Witches - a winding tale of connected generations of witches. I think it's the focus on fewer individuals, the persistent nature theme and symbolism, and the nonlinear telling that makes this one work better for me. We get to see each woman all throughout the book instead of just being a string of beads we look at one by one, one after the other. The magic is also more ambiguous (but still there) than SHW, more of a magical realism feel like A Murmuring of Bees (one of my faves) than the historical realism vibe of SHW.

TW for Rape, sexual assault, pregnancy, abortion, domestic abuse

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Rape

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Violence, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Abortion, Sexual violence, Car accident, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Medical trauma, Cancer, Confinement, War, Miscarriage, Child abuse, Medical content, Infertility, Grief, and Blood

msnikkiwilks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I don't have words for the beauty and brilliance that is this book. 

The weaving of generations of women is powerful. 

Thanks for the rec, Camille! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Incest, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Car accident, Rape, Death, Grief, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

ca517's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Domestic abuse

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

Beautiful & magical. A story about the power of women and the bond between them, even when they’ve been kept away from one another for far too long. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Vomit, Torture, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Violence, Death of parent, Classism, Confinement, Abortion, Blood, Child death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, War, Mental illness, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Religious bigotry, Animal death, Death, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Infertility, Car accident, Child abuse, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Body shaming, Cancer, Sexual assault, and Miscarriage

opie_azvuc's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

0.25

3 Girls 1 Spine

I'm really concerned for the author of this book. I don't know if men did something to her, or she's just chronically online or something, but she HATES men so MUCH. Every single male character in this book is an absolute monster save exactly one who's only kind of okay until the very end where he's a hero. To be fair, two of the three "protagonists" are incredibly bad at it.

Misandry aside, this book is not that well written. Each chapter takes around 5-10 minutes to read and less than that in the first third or so of the book. Each chapter follows around one of three women in three completely different time periods and ends on a cliffhanger. The first few chapters are only around 6 pages each, so it's very jarring and disconnected and feels like the author may have written it while guzzling espresso and shooting cocaine.

The first person we follow is Altha, a woman accused of witchcraft in the 1600's and literally the only protagonist to have any sort of backbone or agency despite the face her situation is the most dire. She avoids prosecution and immolation and goes on to rescue the wife of an abusive husband by causing said abusive husband to be attacked by woodland creatures Loony Tunes style.

The second protagonist, Violet, is a sixteen year old girl with an abusive father and a brother off at boarding school during World War 2. Her cousin, a soldier, comes to stay with the family on leave, date rapes Violet, and the father finds out and sequesters her in this cabin in the woods where it turns out he had her mother interred there where all sorts of horrible things happened to her by men. She learns how to give herself an abortion using noxious weeds and realizes she has the power to chase her father away with woodland creatures Loony Tunes style.

The third protagonist is Kate in 2019 who is running from an abusive boyfriend she has been with for 5 years and has had multiple chances to get away from but chose not to until she decided to flee to the countryside, at no point contacting the police, battered women's shelter, lawyer, or anything that makes sense. She doesn't even bother to get a gun or ask any of her new acquiaintances to look out for her. When the boyfriend tracks her down because of the script, she realizes she also has the power to chase her boyfriend away with woodland creatures Loony Tunes style.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Child death, Miscarriage, Self harm, Abortion, Blood, Body shaming, Car accident, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Body horror, Dementia, Medical trauma, Grief, Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Rape, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Stalking, Suicide, Gore, Bullying, Classism, Medical content, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Violence