Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott

32 reviews

rosyapple's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative medium-paced

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

5.0

i cried so much 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Child death, Animal death, and Blood

Moderate: Xenophobia

Minor: War and Self harm

laurareads87's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

I liked a lot about this book.  I found the writing beautiful, and I feel like the author has handled serious and difficult themes -- intergenerational trauma especially -- very well.  I liked the last quarter of the book best, and found that while some questions were left unanswered, the ending was absolutely a satisfying conclusion.  I am not the most versed in Jewish myth, but I appreciated how it was interwoven into the story from what I do know; the historically informed chapters of the story are at times difficult reading, but are very, very well done.  What really didn't work for me was one of the two main contemporary characters (several other reviewers have gotten at why); I found Isaac a very frustrating character, and did not like the way the Isaac/Benji storyline in particular was written like it took place in a much earlier time period (Great Depression, perhaps?) than it did.
<i>Content warnings:</i> Antisemitism, genocide, murder, grief, self harm, blood, suicidal thoughts, animal death, animal cruelty, fire/fire injury, xenophobia, death, child death, violence

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Blood, Child death, Death, Grief, Murder, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Gore

Minor: Alcohol

alliebliterary's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Genocide, Antisemitism, Blood, Self harm, and Child death

nbreezy17's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Child death, Antisemitism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Xenophobia

elizabeth_lepore's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Self harm, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Antisemitism, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: War, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Violence, and Grief

mossgoblins's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

5.0

This was hands-down the best story I’ve read in years. I might be a bit biased since my family history is not dissimilar to that of the Yaga’s, yet I believe anyone can appreciate the masterwork of GennaRose Nethercott in Thistlefoot. The plot is airtight, the characters complex and endearing, and the setting simply sparkling with life. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism

Moderate: Death, Genocide, Grief, Abandonment, Murder, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, War, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Xenophobia, Blood, Self harm, Violence, Hate crime, and Child death

Minor: Alcohol, Kidnapping, and Deportation

alisiakae's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, War, Xenophobia, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Self harm, Religious bigotry, and Panic attacks/disorders

abominablesnowaro's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Genocide, Gore, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Violence, and Abandonment

Moderate: Body horror, Self harm, Sexual content, Animal death, Blood, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Alcohol and Vomit

kingsteph's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Xenophobia, Antisemitism, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Racial slurs, Gore, and Self harm

nini23's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

4.25

Thistlefoot surprised me in a good way. The descriptive writing is gorgeously evocative and I like both Isaac and Bellatine's characterization, especially Issac. The author is a folklorist and an excellent storyteller. Rather than Neil Gaiman and Naomi Novik, I would mention Erin Morgenstern and Alexandra Rowland instead as parallel writers. 
Note that the story does crescendo into a pogrom against Russian Jews after WWI, referencing a real life historical event, a remembrance ode to the ghosts and survivors.

Edited to add: the prologue section on tumbleweed is gorgeous and memorable, I suddenly thought of it out of the blue today. Actually I recall why, because desert plants were featured in episode 1 of BBC's Green Planet 28/02/2023

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Antisemitism, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, and Self harm