Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Heart's Blood by Juliet Marillier

8 reviews

valentinavl's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

4.5 just because I saw it coming but enjoyed it anyway.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Death of parent

Minor: Suicide

a_ab's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful

4.0

Although too long, this was an interesting and unusual retelling of Beauty and the Beast — rich with its own world and themes beyond the original tale.

It's not going to be a favorite — I had a hard time suspending my disbelief for some of the setting and scenes, and its length is a serious detriment to this book's rereadability, but I enjoyed it well enough.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Animal death, Murder, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, and Violence

Moderate: War and Sexual harassment

kirstym25's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Death, and Animal death

Moderate: Suicide, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Pregnancy and Animal cruelty

etherealskies's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Moderate: Suicide, Gaslighting, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Sexual harassment

briely's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Grief, and Torture

Moderate: Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: Animal death

the dog dies :(

vigil's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-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

3.0

this book made a lot of choices. i enjoyed and tolerated around 70% of them but the rest of it was minor to moderate quibbles that stacked on top of each other to the point where it got too tall to ignore.

the dialogue at times, was too trite and corny, reading like old irish people doing therapy speak. the important plotlines are introduced as a means of conflict but are handwaved as soon as they became an impediment to the story, and several plotlines are left unaddressed and forgotten. 

most annoyingly of all, there was a moment this book tried to say something about feminism. the problem with that is, if you’re going to have your protagonist posit the story as women’s magic, it’s time for women to take back the tale, framing how horrible men can be to women, you have to actually follow up on that.  

the protagonist cannot undertake a single action in this book without being saved by a man. every single time, a man shows up to save her in some manner.

the only exception to this rule is when she is saved by a magic mirror a plot point so highly utilized yet so unexplored.

the only other woman in the house has a personality and plot role that, frankly amounts to vengeful woman / jealous hag. all the other women are there to die, or there to have their husbands die, or there to die and then have their husbands die, or there to have their husbands die and then get paired off to a man twice their age apropos of absolutely nothing. i don’t need this book to tell a tale about feminism and women at all, but if you have the protagonist frame it that way, and do not rebuke or deconstruct her stance, that’s something you must deliver on. 

this book teased multiple things and only succeeded at about half of them. thus, 3 stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Ableism, Blood, Cursing, Misogyny, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal death, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and War

reynoldsreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

It’s been almost 5 months since I last posted about a Beauty and the Beast retelling! But I think the timing for this one worked out quite well since it has a very ghostly, haunted theme to it.

On the run from her abusive relatives, Caitrin finds shelter at Whistling Tor, where whispering spirits lurk in the surrounding forest to lure wanderers off the path, and no one from the nearby village dares set foot — especially after dark. But Caitrin has no where else to go, and since the chieftain has need of her scribing skills, it’s the perfect place to lay low for the summer.

As the season passes, Caitrin grows closer to the peculiar residents of the manor and the isolated, disfigured Lord Anluan. Her work in the library of copying, translating, and organizing the records of past chieftains reveals some secrets about the Tor and she becomes determined to find a way to undo the curse that has tormented Anluan and his ancestors for generations.

This book was incredible! It’s so well-written, well-told, well-paced. I loved how the magic and lore intersected with Irish history; the love story was beautiful; the issues of grief, trauma, and abuse were handled maturely and tactfully. And it had some dramatic twists and reveals along the way! Definitely one of my top favourite BatB retellings! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Animal death and Animal cruelty

geilie's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? N/A

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Animal death