Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

32 reviews

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

klsreads's review against another edition

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

eleanora's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Grief, Miscarriage, Racism, Death, Racial slurs, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, and Physical abuse

Minor: Alcohol, Animal death, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, and Pregnancy

vistacanas's review against another edition

dark informative sad 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? It's complicated

4.25

“Many of them seem past caring what is true or not, only desperate for some reason, some order to the rearrangement of their lives, even if it is brought about by a lie.”

Despite having an inherently predictable witch hunt storyline (weak, psychopathic men and women getting rid of the women they can’t control), this book about witch trials in Norway in the 1600s, totally held my interest.

It’s the first historical fiction I’ve ever read about Norway (and it’s indigenous population (the Samí people), which made it intriguing. I learned a lot about how the people living in this part of the world managed to survive in an extremely harsh environment. The characters also had depth and were either very relatable or totally detestable.

This was the author’s first adult book…I think she nailed it! I look forward to reading more.

Highly recommend this book to historical fiction lovers…and, of course, it’s a must read for all my fellow witches (AKA uncontrollable, walk-to-the-beat-of-their-own-drum non-Christians)!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Misogyny, Abandonment, Bullying, Religious bigotry, Grief, Sexism, and Murder

Moderate: Physical abuse, Classism, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Animal death, Homophobia, Alcohol, Mental illness, Miscarriage, and Suicidal thoughts

flissrobyn's review against another edition

challenging reflective tense slow-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? No

4.0

The writing is beautiful, but makes for an effort full read as it’s slow paced at the beginning. Really loved the plot, found it brought to mind a lot of feelings, with the plot being quite dark. Beautiful book to read and I enjoyed it, but not an easy read or a happy-endings style book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Violence, Sexual assault, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Miscarriage and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Death

malinhalia's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Death, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Racism, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Religious bigotry, Miscarriage, and Misogyny

Minor: Ableism, Domestic abuse, and Alcohol

templetoncecelia's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Death, Toxic relationship, Rape, Murder, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Grief, Child death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, and Blood

samlopez93's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Toxic relationship, Death, Violence, Domestic abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Rape

Minor: Death of parent

starryforest's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

3.75

??
i didn’t like the ending, but it was  realistic and dramatic 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Grief, Infertility, Miscarriage, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Vomit, and Violence

hiraeth_'s review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Genocide, Misogyny, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Death of parent, Pregnancy, Animal death, and Lesbophobia