Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Furies, by Katie Lowe

10 reviews

ashlislibrary's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, Rape, Domestic abuse, Car accident, Child death, Death of parent, and Murder

chonkooch's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

While this was very well written and thoroughly enjoyable I did have several issues with it. The descriptive writing is gorgeous and strangely homoerotic female friendships are very much my jam. I also was a big fan of the horror elements, delicious.

However at certain crucial points the writing style made it difficult to tell what was actually going on: for example,

Spoiler

when the dean was dying i was exceedingly confused

and also

Spoiler

when robin died i had to flip back and forth a few times because i didn't understand.

i'm not 100% that a boarding school was the right setting for this? the school element did feel a little underused and the segments with annabel giving speeches were definitely the weakest parts of the book. despite the heavy emphasis i can tell we're supposed to feel on female rage/revenge i actually feel the better parts of the book are the parts that center around the complex relationships between the girls. if it was more character study and a liiiittle bit less witchcraft i think it could've been great. i also think the ending is a little bit of a cop-out. i think the book Oligarchy by Scarlett Thomas does a pretty good job of what i wish this book had done- that is, expose how insular and ingrown and fake the obsessive cult-like world of the girls is, and how this religion of girlhood-as-pain is, while very real, ultimately something you have to grow out of.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Death, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Addiction, Injury/injury detail, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Body shaming, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Dysphoria, Sexism, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Vomit, Misogyny, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Rape

introverted_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

On paper, this is my perfect book. It promised witchcraft, academia, murder, moral decay, and the arts. It did, to some extent, deliver this and I did enjoy it on the most part. If you’re a fan of books like The Secret History (Donna Tartt) or If We Were Villains (M. L. Rio), which I am, this is again a novel of secrecy, elite academic circles, murder, boundaries and transgression, and decay. After the disappearance of a previous member of the elite art group, Violet is introduced to a world of witchcraft, female anger, moral transgressions, and the pursuit of beauty above all else. Violet is swept into the turbulent dynamic of the group, lured by the promise of solidarity and companionship, and very quickly finds herself inseparable from Robin, the enigmatic best friend of the missing girl. Violet and Robin begin down a path of bloody pagan rituals and revenge, and the declination of morality is triggered. The Furies is a captivating, dark novel that is a must read for fans of the gothic or the dark academia cult (/lh) that is forever growing.

However, I feel that this book is somewhat problematic. If it were published even 10 years ago, I’d be more understanding of some of the themes/ideas within this book, but considering it was published in 2019, it is extremely concerning to see the pro-ana/pro-mia culture of the 2000-2010s finding its way into a contemporary piece of fiction. The arguably romantic depiction of this culture feels very out of place and extremely harmful. With eating disorders worryingly on the rise, and pro-ana/mia culture finding a renaissance on TikTok, I personally am concerned at the misconstrued ideas held within Lowe’s novel. For a book published in 2019 with a host of academic psychiatry resources and credible eating disorder information available online, to have such a glorified depiction of eating disorder themes doesn’t sit right with me. I feel as if there must be a reexamination of what exactly is being presented within this book, as I feel as though this could be dangerous in some hands.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Drug abuse, Rape, Blood, Sexual assault, Addiction, Child death, Cursing, Death of parent, Grief, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Body shaming, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Domestic abuse, Injury/injury detail, and Self harm

cosycourtney's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Dark witchy academia meets murder mystery; sign me up. Listening to this on audiobook had me wanting to walk for as long as I could each day. The story was compelling, layered, intense, entertaining and infuriating. I couldn’t tell which friend was worse or if anyone deserved my sympathy. The characterization was so strong; we all know the exact archetype from school and when you’re young you want anything to be friends with her but when you’re older you’re glad you weren’t. This book unpacks the obsessive nature of friendship as a teenager and the commitment to questionable friends people uphold about it all. I found it pleasantly infuriating as I wanted to scream sense into everyone but I was hooked on every word. Thoroughly enjoyed and look forward to reading more of Katie Lowe’s books in the future! Please consider content warnings before reading x

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Violence, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, Injury/injury detail, Grief, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Child abuse, Car accident, and Drug use

kateratesbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse

danajoy's review against another edition

challenging dark

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Rape

jenniferpalmblad's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, and Violence

aliciacaitlyn's review against another edition

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, and Death

Moderate: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Toxic friendship, Gore, Eating disorder, Car accident, and Body shaming

estosnosonlibros's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Alcoholism, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence

Minor: Grief

alyciareads's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

Violet is a new student at a boarding school. When she meets and is befriended by three girls in her year, Robin, Alex, and Grace, she unknowingly begins on the ride of her life. 

Trigger warnings for drug use, under-age drinking, sexual themes, violence, and death. 

I didn’t love this, though I really wanted to. The characters aren’t likeable, and frankly I found myself wanting to shake them all. Even the teachers and parents in this book were abhorrent humans. There isn’t one redeemable character in the group. For a character-driven story (there isn’t a lot of plot), the characters felt two-dimensional and fake in a way that had me rolling my eyes when I should have been feeling tension or suspense. It wasn’t horrible, but I don’t recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Death, Drug use, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness