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unablelemon's review
- 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
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Drug abuse
natashaleighton_'s review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Death, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Violence, Vomit, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic
black_cat_iiix's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Body horror, Sexism, Sexual violence, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gore, Misogyny, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism
meg53's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.5
Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Abandonment
ellie_debney's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Emotional abuse
Minor: Physical abuse, Vomit, and Medical content
apoppyinthewind's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
The three main POV characters are Jude, Emer, and Zara. The first, Jude, is a novice witch who's made quite a life-changing mistake with her pact and is seeking help to fix it. Zara, grieving her murdered sister, is determined to find answers and a way to bring her sister back. Jude and Zara are brought together while researching the murders of other witches, all of whom were former clients of Emer, the curse writer.
It's a dark, bloody tale, with a significant amount of body horror about three characters trying to track down a murderer targeting witches. I would recommend checking it out if you enjoy witchy books and horror.
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
gabburrit0's review against another edition
3.75
i really liked all of the girls! i think that their specific dynamic (the face, the brain, and the brawn) can definitely fall into the trap of cliche but it also really worked for this specific story and the narrative that they were trying to convey of like "girl power but make it supernatural" i also really appreciated that sutherland included the gore of doing these rituals into the story. lots of ppl are into witchcraft and their own interpretations of it but it has a lot to do with imbuing crystals with intentions or lighting sage to cleanse but this was like "let's get back to our roots and show the blood and how you have to give up a lot of yourself in order to achieve your specific wants in witchcraft" which i thoroughly enjoyed
the only thing keeping this book from a 4 star (5 star was a bit too high for me since i take re-readability into account) is that i just enjoyed sutherland's other book (house of hollow) so much more. it's unfair for me to pit 2 books against each other but in my defense they're both written by the same author and have similar vibes of supernatural occurrences happening to young women. where this book fell flat when it came to atmosphere, house of hollow absolutely knocked it out of the park. i wish that there had been more moodiness and overall gothic tones throughout this story because we're quite literally talking about hunting witch-hunters because they're killing women rapidly and the tone of the book just felt very vampire academy (movie version) and i just know that sutherland knows how to write a fucking good atmospheric book. tldr, house of hollow actually made me feel anxious and a little scared to turn off my light at night and i listened to this book on audiobook to help me go to sleep (affectionately)
that all being said, this book has made me a fan of sutherland's work. i'm definitely going to be picking up whatever she releases next and i'll be there for the vibes of a spooky story
Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Self harm, Blood, Grief, and Murder
kassibaby84's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
This was a great novel with a lot of female empowerment and societal analogies. We learn that only women can be witches and men are always trying to find ways to steal their powers. Witches have been victims for centuries of male hunters and must be stopped. This book reminded me a bit of "Legendborn" with its ties to the history of female oppression and strength. The MCs are queer and show their identity in different ways. Jude, hitting on all the females around her despite her festering wounds, provides dark humor and comic relief. Each of the MCs is without a family, either through ostracization or murder, and the found family they create with each other is heartwarming.
Graphic: Body horror, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
mirell's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Gore, Blood, Vomit, and Murder
codyemma's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Self harm, Sexism, Vomit, and Grief