Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy

54 reviews

blewballoon's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

1.0

I struggled with this one. I really wanted to like it, I went to Catholic school and I knew some pretty cool nuns. There was a lot of potential in the premise. I thought this would be a fun time, despite being a murder mystery. It wasn't fun, it wasn't funny, and it didn't have anything new or interesting to say. It was just a series of awful people either doing awful things or having awful things done to them while the author describes how hot and humid it is every other sentence. (Do check the content warnings, there is a lot of dark stuff here.) The book is written in a stream of conscious sort of way, so I would be in a scene and then three paragraphs later the narrator was still musing, reminiscing about the past in a vague way, and talking about how hot it is, and I would have forgotten what was even happening. This was made worse by listening on audiobook and not being able to just flip back or skip over, but I do think Mara Wilson did a good job narrating the material she was given. Sister Holiday makes incredibly bad choices, is selfish and hard to root for, and doesn't really figure anything out that isn't completely obvious. The word "sleuthing" is heavily overused by her, especially considering that she doesn't actually do any. I would say the diversity is good, but because the diverse people are flat or terrible, I'm not sure the representation does anyone a service. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Infidelity

Moderate: Addiction, Blood, Drug abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Violence, Drug use, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Cancer, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Incest, and Self harm

egmamaril's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

I rated this higher because I really appreciated seeing the social-justicr Catholic church (and nuns) I know represented, but the actual prose and mystery were not my cup of tea. However, it is setting up an interesting duo and I love Sister Holiday as a queer version of the troubled noir detective. I will remain optimistic for the sequel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Infidelity

Moderate: Homophobia and Rape

Minor: Child abuse, Pregnancy, and Sexism

madsw14's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Bullying, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, Cancer, Drug use, Death, Rape, Animal death, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Murder, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Terminal illness, and Addiction

Minor: Infidelity, Incest, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Fatphobia, Self harm, Confinement, and Sexual harassment

chloebrown13's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Rape, Misogyny, Child abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Homophobia

dennytherestaurant's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad fast-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

1.0

This book was really not for me. The character’s motivations made no sense despite the book being stream of consciousness. The mystery was predictable and I disliked the character from start to finish. Her actions never made sense, the flashbacks seemed to be nothing more than trauma porn, and her motivation to save herself by becoming a nun and the moment that cements her decision was just poor writing imo

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Suicide, and Animal death

Moderate: Rape and Homophobia

Minor: Sexual assault

katiewhocanread's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Rape, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, Animal death, Pedophilia, Child abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Police brutality, Alcoholism, and Suicide

gothbaby's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

3.75

I was thrilled to receive an ARC of Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy. From the cover to the blurb, I was immediately intrigued and could not wait to pick this up. While this review comes late (after its publication), I am still equally thrilled to have been trusted to read it before hitting the shelves.

As someone who grew up as a non-practicing Catholic, I was very drawn to Sister Holiday. I cannot praise Douaihy enough for writing about someone who is often seen as faithless with so much care and grace. Sister Holiday’s faith felt so real and gentle as opposed to overbearing. Her faith, connection, and understanding of God were her own and she cherished it as it was, as opposed to “preaching” it. The book was very much that way and I often forgot the main character was a nun.

I would be lying if I said Sister Holiday and Nina’s past, as well as Sister Holiday’s growing interest in Rosemary, didn’t intrigue me more than the crime/plot itself. However, I was still thoroughly intrigued and invested. 

Margot Douaihy’s writing was lovely! I highlighted so many bits and pieces and will definitely pick up any and all of her future books!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Death of parent

Moderate: Cancer and Transphobia

marareading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

3.5

A punk, queer, tattooed, sleuthing nun who is trying to solve crime in her New Orleans convent. I HAD to read this. It was definitely a fun read. HEAVY on the triggers, so please read with care and awareness. It is a slow burn on the mystery. Some very interesting, and heavily traumatized characters. Certain characters felt like they relief heavily on some stereotypes, which felt a little disingenuous. However, it was the first book of this kind and was unique, and jarring. So, overall after checking TW, I'd recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Rape, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Death, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual assault, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, and Drug abuse

booksareoxygen's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

This novel takes imagery we know, and the tropes we thought would be true, and turns them on their head. As the story unfolds you see the characters unfold unto their full humanity. While we see the narrative from Sister Holiday’s point of view this offers a rich and nuanced view of the other characters in the novel, and allows us a glimpse of the lives we may be passing everyday on the street. And as much as this is a murder mystery, it is also a mosaic of contemporary fiction, queer commentary, and the turmoil of an identity crisis. 4/5
 
Thank you Netgalley and publisher for sending the book for review consideration. All opinions are my own!
 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Murder, Violence, Hate crime, Rape, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Outing

Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, Cancer, and Death of parent

eloise_bradbooks's review against another edition

mysterious tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.75

This book is about a chain-smoking, heavily tattooed queer nun, Sister Holiday, who tries to understand who set the school she teaches at on fire... Especially as more and more fires are appearing, and someone seems to be framing Sister Holiday... We also get to learn about who she was before becoming a nun, living a very queer and ver punk life.

Although some elements of this story are quite difficult to read about (please check trigger warnings), I did want to keep reading more about Sister Holiday and what was going on.

I'll admit I felt like I could have cared a bit more... There was a little something that felt distant, like i couldn't quite connect.
I'm not a huge fan of going back into the past to find out more about how people got to be who they are today. I'm always wanting to just get back to the present story, which is a shame because I actually feel like the backstory here, is actually much more interesting than the present one ... 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Murder, Infidelity, Homophobia, Child death, Suicide attempt, and Grief

Minor: Addiction