Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Mary: An Awakening of Terror by Nat Cassidy

85 reviews

rebrosecca's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

4.5

 Disturbing in all the right and wrong ways. I was surprised to learn the author was male considering the main character and 99% of the plot is pre-menopausal women issues. In the end, though, it makes a lot of sense. The misogyny is heavy. The horror is gruesome and uncomfortable. The humor is morbid. The way he paired legit issues about society's portrayal of aging women with gritty, in-your-face violence was unexpectedly confronting. The making of the monsters in this book is chilling and leaves you unsure if the ending is a victory or justice has gotten out of hand. If you want to read something that feels like Stephen King but includes violence against women, this is a solid pick. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Body shaming, Death, Murder, Misogyny, Animal death, Torture, Violence, Bullying, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

saccharinewoe's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

something about this book made me feel so much dread at times i was holding my breath, especially with the paranormal stuff lol. had great pacing and was written really well. it was nice to read about an MC that's an older perimenopausal woman (

even if she's got a serial killer in her head

)... i feel like those experiences are often shoved aside or talked about in hush because of how much shame is (unfortunately) tied to aging - which was definitely one of the base motifs in this. i really enjoyed this book a lot and was gagged to the very end lol like it kept me guessing! of course, i would've liked it if it came from the voice of a middle-aged women but as the afterword said - i hope this does open up these conversations so there's more appreciation of that life period for women.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, and Violence

saint_eleanor's review

adventurous dark funny medium-paced

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

3.0

Solid 3, i feel very conflicted abt it so pros: 

• Middle aged woman main character 
• Gory 
• Mysterious 
• Relatable main character 
• Interesting plot 
• Bloodbath 

Cons:

• Insufferable main character 
• Flat character writing
• Slightly confused worldview, inconsistent details or forgotten details 
• Unsatisfying ending kind of? 
• Feel like it should have been either shorter or longer

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, and Gore

Minor: Sexual violence

staci_stasis's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense 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

4.0

This was innovative and fun as hell. Bit lengthy around the middle part though. The narration by Susan Bennett fucking slaps, I can really recommend getting the audiobook 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Gore, Violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Body horror

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, and Bullying

odd_wan's review

challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective tense 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

4.5

I strongly advise to read the after thought of the author after you read the story. It makes the story so much more completed in my opinion. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Death, Body horror, Misogyny, Torture, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, Gore, Murder, Blood, Animal death, Toxic friendship, and Body shaming

katesmiles's review

challenging dark fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, and Misogyny

Moderate: Sexual violence

princess_marie's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense 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

3.5

It was a good and interesting story that did keep me engaged but it got a little too weird for my taste (almost to the point of being "silly").

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Death, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Misogyny, Murder, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Torture, Religious bigotry, Violence, Sexual violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Medical content

cryptidenthusiast's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

4.0

Initially, this book was a 3 for me. It had slow points, and I found myself struggling to connect to the inner voice of Mary, a woman written by a man. There were points where I was like ‘okay, this is obviously how a man thinks a woman must think’ (the repeated reference and notice of the victims’ breasts, being one point. I can’t speak for everybody, but the first thing I would notice about a spectral murder victim probably wouldn’t be whether or not her breasts were sagging). There was a disconnect there that I struggled with, outside of other issues I had with the overall pacing. 

And then I listened to the acknowledgment. 

Nat Cassidy made a point to do his research, and came from a point of genuinely wanting to bring light to a part of women’s lives that is usually ignored: menopause. And he brought up the point that a lot of Mary’s inner voice wasn’t *her*, but a man, something Nat Cassidy did know and could write, which is why the disconnect was there.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Body horror, Misogyny, and Murder

story_of_steph's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I’m not sure what I was expecting but it wasn’t that. Weird. I didn’t love it but didn’t hate it either.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Torture

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Excrement, and Mass/school shootings

kups's review

adventurous challenging dark inspiring mysterious fast-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

4.5

This was such an interesting book to read. From the beginning, it started slow because of how negative Mary's perspective was, which was completely understandable considering her circumstances. But after the first 100ish pages the story got really crazy with all the cult stuff. Poor Nancy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Body horror, Death, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Gore, Body shaming, Animal death, Fatphobia, and Misogyny