Reviews tagging 'War'

Extasia by Claire Legrand

8 reviews

amris's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense slow-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Sexual assault, Gore, Violence, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Sexual content, Torture, Body horror, Death of parent, Grief, Physical abuse, and Sexual violence

Minor: War

sav_22's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I very much enjoyed this book. I would describe it as Fear Street 1666 meets handmaid’s tale meets Ethel Cain’s Preachers Daughter. This is very much a deep dive into processing systemically rooted oppression of women, and explores the craving for justice to the extreme. I think if you like June  (Handmaids tale) as a protagonist, you’d enjoy many of these characters. My main gripe is

the underland plot twist. Unless there is a sequel she meant to set up to justify that plot point and further explore, then imo it just as easily could have been removed and replaced with them finding out that the devil is just a symbol of people that assert misery and domination over others or something.

  the pacing was also a weakness but overall it’s an interesting concept and a compelling read 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Sexism, Child abuse, Grief, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Death of parent, War, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Death, Child death, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Confinement, Abandonment, and Adult/minor relationship

sarah984's review

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

1.0

I was so excited to read this because I loved Sawkill Girls but this book did not work for me.

First of all I think it's kind of cowardly to set this book in the context it winds up being set in and not explicitly make the cult religion Christianity. The society isn't described particularly well; the book is so long and drags on but so many things are glossed over so there's not much of an idea what their everyday life is like. I kind of wish that Amity had had a few "normal" visitations and other duties as a saint before it all hit the fan.

The characters are all cardboard cutouts (the only one I found mildly interesting was the

second POV character

and she's only in a couple of chapters near the end), the witches feel pointless (their entire role could easily have been fulfilled by other characters who were already present) and the romance is very silly.

The magic system isn't well set up and basically just works however the plot needs it to. The plot itself just does whatever to get to the next point - I never understood why Amity was so set on meeting the devil in the first place.

Also it's annoying going into a book that says it's about revenge and righteous anger and then having the message be that we need to be nice to bigots because maybe they don't know that racism and misogyny are bad. I almost wish racism hadn't come up at all because it's handled so clumsily

- there are like 3 (marginally) important Black characters because the founders of Amity's cult were white supremacists, but of those characters 1 dies and 1 is a villain, and since Amity only even found out Black people existed like last week the cult's racism isn't super plot relevant. Two different revolutions happen basically off page so the author doesn't have to try and explain how they did that without hurting anyone's feelings.

Also the sequel hook was stupid. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, and Child death

Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Body horror, Blood, Bullying, Cannibalism, Confinement, Grief, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Racism, and Self harm

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Vomit, and War

mswarning's review

dark mysterious 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

3.25

Finding it hard to rate this book. I liked some of the elements of the story: post-apocalyptic, feminism, patriarchy, high control society, witchcraft, and ghosts. But they didn't really fit together well in terms of plot. And the F/F romance feels a bit superficial, kinda insta-lovey in a disappointing way. Ending is left open for a sequel, but I'm unsure if we'll get one.

Check out the trigger warnings, there's a lot in this book.. Very misogynistic society.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Body horror, Violence, Death, Murder, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Blood, Sexual assault, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, War, Death of parent, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Torture, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Sexual content and Fire/Fire injury

mooandshoe's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, and Blood

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, and Gaslighting

Minor: War

apersonfromflorida's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Misogyny, and Abandonment

Moderate: Sexual content, Blood, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Gore

Minor: War and Homophobia

thebookishvalkyrie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This is a haunting story that will keep you thinking about it long after you’ve finished reading it. The prose are beautifully creepy. The horror elements are visceral, hooking into your subconscious and lingering on the edges of your conscious mind. The sapphic witchy vibes are exactly what I hoped for. The end is satisfying. Though there was a moment where I worried that the twist was tired one - but it’s been spun into something new and I enjoyed it in the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Violence, Body horror, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Xenophobia, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, War, and Grief

Minor: Racism

dernhelms_bag's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring medium-paced

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

5.0

GUTTING-I can't wait for the finished version but loved the ARC! Zero regrets about placing a pre order every time Legrand announces a new book coming out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Body horror, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Cannibalism, Confinement, Cursing, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, Torture, Violence, and War

Minor: Animal death, Vomit, Sexual assault, Self harm, and Racism

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