Reviews tagging 'Violence'

All Our Hidden Gifts by Caroline O'Donoghue

45 reviews

thequiltyreader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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? Yes

2.0

I normally enjoy a YA book but this just felt slow and also a bit immature for the topic that happens at the end which I felt it just skirted over and didn't address properly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Suicide attempt, Violence, Death, Hate crime, Outing, Kidnapping, and Homophobia

erin_lusk's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious tense medium-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

This magical, tarot-driven, coming of age queer witch novel is everything I wish I had as a teenager beginning to understand who they were. Now I’m a 36 year old nonbinary witch obsessed with grief (I’m also a widow), tarot, self-acceptance and compassion towards others - and this book made me cry with its graceful portrayal of queer people. 

While that isn’t the main focus of the story, it plays an incredibly important role. One that many like me needed to have put on paper. For that, I am incredibly grateful to Caroline O’Donoghue.

As for the meat of this story…it was so deliciously written. Powerful and beautiful and dangerous are the words that come to mind to sum-up the plot. Maeve, with her lack of book smarts, instinctively drawn to the tarot after finding a mysterious deck in her schools basement/storage area,  begins to give readings to her fellow classmates at the all-girls catholic school she attends. In the process, she gives a reading to her ex-best friend who ends up disappearing. 

What follows is Maeve’s attempts to find her as well as Maeve’s own self-discovery about who she is and what it means to love those around you. She falls for ex-BFFs brother only to find out the boy she knew isn’t a boy at all but a generous and beautiful nonbinary person trying to make their way in a world turning more violent and dark. Maeve also makes friends with Fiona, an aspiring actress who is fighting her cultural connection to healing and caring for others in order to be her own person. 

This diverse and stunning cast of characters have left an imprint on my soul. Thank god the next two books are already available.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, and Transphobia

se_wigget's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

This was wonderful and hard to put down--though the anti-queer Christofascists pissed me off. They need to be hexed.

44%: Wow--a sea monkeys reference... about an hour after I finished listening to an American Hysteria podcast episode about Sea Monkeys!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Lesbophobia, Racism, Homophobia, Self harm, Biphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Bullying, Hate crime, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Death and Grief

btorsi's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

super fun and not at all what i was expecting! it feels a little weird to have a privileged straight white cis girl at the center of such a queer story, but that is my only real complaint. it was so easy to get through, i couldn't put it down. roe and fiona were incredible characters and so easy to love. maeve was harder, but i felt myself rooting for her too, despite her flaws. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Homophobia, Transphobia, Violence, and Self harm

oddduck's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Transphobia, Blood, Homophobia, Violence, Deadnaming, Bullying, Lesbophobia, and Racism

Minor: Alcohol and Domestic abuse

beckyyreadss's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-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? Yes

4.0

This book was gifted to me by Izzy from the book club I'm in as part of a gift exchange for Halloween. This book has been on my TBR for ages after an online friend did a post recommending it. I am so thankful for Izzy for buying me the first book in the series and it did not disappoint.  

This book is based on Maeve Chambers, and she feels like she doesn’t have much going for her. She feels like the idiot in her family of geniuses, she pushed her best friend Lily away a year ago. But when she finds a pack of dusty old tarot cards at school and begins to give scarily accurate readings to the girls in her class, she realizes she’s has finally found her gift at last. Things are looking up until she discovers a strange card in the deck that definitely shouldn’t be there. And two days after she convinces her ex-best friend to have a reading, she disappears. Can Maeve, her new friend Fiona and Lily’s brother Roe find her? And will their special talents be enough to bring Lily back, before she’s gone for good? 

The storyline was very strong, and it was an easy and interesting read. I loved the tarot cards aspect bit of it with the hint of witchiness. Maeve is such a badass even for how confused she can be during this book. I loved that Fiona was such a supportive best friend even when Maeve was ready to give up. The LGBT aspect of this book warms my heart with the love stories and Maeve’s sister being gay. The attacks that happened on Roe and Jo drove me absolutely nuts and made me angry. I love that Caroline wasn’t afraid to talk about serious subjects within a young adult book such as the divorce being taboo in Ireland etc. 

With this being a YA, there were a few things that was predictable, however I still enjoyed it thoroughly.  Also, I slightly lost interest during the middle of the books, I think I was expecting Lily to come back, or something happen which then led to the next event. I knew that Lily’s disappearance was the main event but with the several aspects and several suspects, I was hoping it would go on to something bigger.  

The cliffhanger was mean, and the mystery and mental aspect of Lily makes me want to read more and to start the next book in the series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Homophobia

Moderate: Bullying, Racism, and Self harm

theoriginalbookdragon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Hate crime, Self harm, Homophobia, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Violence, and Blood

Minor: Medical content

elliereadsthings's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

“I lean my head on his shoulder and wonder just how much easier life would be if I weren’t in love with Roe O’Callaghan. But, oh god, how boring.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Vomit, Violence, Transphobia, Toxic friendship, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Cursing, Colonisation, and Blood

Moderate: Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Racism, Mental illness, Medical content, Lesbophobia, Biphobia, Bullying, and Alcohol

Minor: Stalking, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Outing, Murder, Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Sexism, Kidnapping, Grief, Excrement, Death, Infidelity, Deadnaming, Abortion, Domestic abuse, Classism, and Child death

lunaxlore's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Hate crime, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Transphobia, Violence, and Homophobia

Moderate: Blood, Death, and Dysphoria

Minor: Domestic abuse

natashaleighton_'s review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Racism, Self harm, and Blood

Minor: Alcohol, Domestic abuse, and Adult/minor relationship