Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Cackle

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Cackle by Rachel Harrison

11 reviews

egarlock's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

2.5

This is not a good book. 2.5 stars because good and enjoyable aren’t the same thing. It’s fine as a piece of fluff, I guess, but it’s trying to make a big feminist statement and largely fails. When I say trying, I really mean bludgeoning. Don’t get me wrong, I love witchcraft as feminist allegory. I think everyone should read Once and Future Witches. This author probably could benefit from therapy though. The protagonist starts off as a sad sack serial monogamist wallowing after agreeing to a mutual breakup she doesn’t want. Annie moves upstate where she meets the mysterious and empowered Sophie who supposedly shows her the path to self actualization and independence. Here be spoilers [The problem here is that Sophie is secretive and emotionally manipulative AF. Sophie is just as bad as the mediocre white dude Annie is sulking about, possibly worse. There is a thread of distrust and unease through the entire novel and had the author followed that to show Sophie as a toxic friend before eventually having Annie find her own power in some ending reminiscent of The Craft, this could have been a good book. Instead, we are told that Annie realizes she doesn’t need Sophie anymore, but she decides she still wants her in her life. I 100% do not believe that Annie can function without her fucked up codependence with Sophie. Also, the lesson is that being a single independent woman is the only path to self actualization and it creates a power that men and society will fear. I don’t think any woman needs to be romantically paired, but this is incredibly trite and reductive. It’s really a shame because this book had so much potential.]

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hunkydory's review

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lighthearted 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? Yes

2.75

Content Warnings

bluelillybooks's review

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Menacing, magnanimous, magic.

Annie is a 30 year-old teacher who suffers from depression after her boyfriend broke up with her. She moves through life trying to be as inconspicious as possible, while her mind is haunted by anxiety. Now that she has to move cities and live on her own, she is confronted with her bad drinking habits and loneliness. Then she meets Sophie, who carries herself with a grace and confidence that inspires awe in Annie. They quickly become friends, but if Sophie is that wonderful, then why are the other villagers always nervous around her? And why are there so many spiders in Annie's appartment?

I have never before seen myself in a character as much as I saw myself in Annie. "Cackle" describes anxiety attacks, self-doubt and depressive symptoms in such an accurate way that I highlighted some of the passages to show to my therapist. Not even joking. I've seen some reviews calling Annie gullible and annoying, but girlies that's literally how anxiety works *shrugs*.

Without spoiling anything, because I think everyone should read this book, "Cackle" is about finding the courage to live life for yourself and all the magic in yourself that is just waiting to come out. Also spooky vibes!

Content Warnings

theliteraryhooker's review

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adventurous dark mysterious 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? Yes

3.25

Maybe a hair on the predictable side but I mostly enjoyed this read. Both Annie and Sophie are interesting characters to follow, and I appreciated Annie's character arc for the most part.

Content Warnings

elsebeok's review against another edition

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adventurous inspiring lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

emoryjoy's review against another edition

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dark inspiring mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

3.75

The back of the book sounds like it will be a queer romance. It is not.

Content Warnings

bitterseason's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

hello_lovely13's review

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dark funny mysterious fast-paced

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

2.5

Content Warnings

queergoth_reads's review against another edition

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dark funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.5

I received this as an eARC from NetGalley but all thoughts are my owns.

This is such a cozy little horror novel. It doesn't lean into the horror as much as I think it could have but it was a really great read. It's definitely the book is give people if someone asked about my taste in literature.

Also as someone who is afraid of spiders, this book did a great job at endearing them to me which is quite a feat.

<Spoiler> I do feel that maybe Sophie was forcing her world view on Annie a bit much but then I think most of the conflict in the book wouldn't have happened so probably necessary in this case. </Spoiler>

I do feel like Annie's dependency on alcohol probably could have done with a bit more serious discussion.

Overall great read though. Very much enjoyed it.

Content Warnings

cinthiaurora's review against another edition

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dark funny lighthearted mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.0

I picked this up because I wanted something spooky, but still lighthearted and easy to read, and the good news was that this delivered. While Rachel Harrison’s writing WAS easy to read though, I found her writing flowed really well and was very introspective. Premise of the book sounds like a pitch for a sitcom, which for me is a plus. If it WAS a sitcom I would watch 10 seasons of it. Good read if you know what to expect!

I deducted .5 because Annie and Sophie never kissed. And another .5 because at a certain point it was just unbelievable to me that Annie moves to a pretty new town where she befriends a LITERAL WITCH who cooks for her and makes her dresses and shows her her own magic powers AND has a cute little spider side-kick….and she’s STILL thinking about her loser ex-boyfriend? She’s literally insane. Also I really thought for a minute there that all the character development we did manage to get from her would be undone when she decided to see Sam. I literally had zero faith in her. None whatsoever. So a pleasant surprise she turned it around in the end. Anyways, Annie and Sophie should have kissed. I don’t care if Sophie was a little toxic. I support women’s wrongs. Otherwise pretty solid read.

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