Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

27 reviews

hopeadinfinitum's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative tense fast-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? No

5.0

A difficult book that tears at your heart even as you can’t put it down. This book made me Feel Things with capital letters, angry and sad and hopeful and thoroughly gutted like a fish. There’s a lot of content warnings to take into account and they shouldn’t be taken lightly, but this book is so worth a read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Domestic abuse, Grief, Alcohol, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Rape, Racism, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Death, and Sexism

Moderate: Animal death, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Colonisation, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Murder

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

karmachamillionaire's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Infertility, Blood, Sexism, Grief, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Death, and Racism

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Alcohol

maregred's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, and Death

Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, Classism, Colonisation, Rape, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Infidelity and Sexual content

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

omgmkg's review against another edition

challenging 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This book was advertised to me as witch trial fiction, but it is really much more about the conditions that allow a witch hunt and trial to happen. As a bit of a social scientist, this fictionalized take really speaks to me. At the same time, that makes the pacing of the book a bit odd—first quite slow and then fast. 

The exploration of what it would have been like if a remote place had lost all its men (which did actually happen historically) was fascinating and a part of that slower pace, though, and I really enjoyed it. As one reviewer stated, it is a feminist book without ignoring historical reality. 

I loved Ursa and Maren and really felt I learned their worlds. I was rooting for each of them right away. 

Sort of spoiler (very mild)

I wish that there was a more positive or satisfying end, but that is just not realistic in this type of book.

 

It is written in present tense which is  not my preference, but I got used to it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Miscarriage, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Rape

miniingrid's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Alcohol, Sexual content, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Violence, and Sexual violence

Minor: Death of parent, Colonisation, Vomit, Pregnancy, and Racism