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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
dark
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Take the story of a wife escaping her abusive husband and plop it in 1660’s Puritan Boston where female orgasms and 3-tined forks are feared as devilish 🥴🙄 As an abuse survivor myself, this was a HARD read/listen, but so worth it.
The first half, “the Book of the Wife,” is almost unbearable with its never-ending unfairness, cruelty and judgment towards Mary. But that just heightens the tension and makes the payoff that much more emotionally charged. In the second half, “the Book of the Witch,” Mary switches from helpless rage to anger and she LOCKS IN (which feels damn good, lemme tell you from personal experience). Even bookended by two longish court scenes, this story can definitely be classed as a tense thriller with dashes of mystery sleuthing.
It heartened me that Mary retained her unbroken spirit, sense of self worth and understanding that she deserved happiness too. Most times, the combination of a man’s abuse and a patriarchal religion’s indoctrination simply brainwashes that out of a woman over the years (as happened to me and many friends).
For being set during Puritan times, this book has a stunningly accurate grasp on not just the calculated hidden cruelty of (sometimes much older) physically, emotionally, mentally & sexually abusive husbands to wives, but also the patriarchal legal systems which afford the wives scrutiny and judgment in place of any actual assistance, as well as the internalized misogyny, slut shaming, and pick-me attitudes of surrounding women. A patriarchal society needs all three (devil’s tines 😝) in order to keep women abused and controlled.
Throughout history, these types have never stopped trying to keep strong women in chains, even redoubling their efforts under the Orange Fascist currently in office, but we will not go silently, and we will never stop fighting for our freedom.
***
“Thou art but a woman, and a woman whose behavior has been more suspect than her husband’s has been unkind. … Even the most powerful man is powerless against a mob, especially a mob of magistrates that sees a witch in its midst.”
“There are many things in this world we should fear, but to bend one’s knees to the smallest of minds?”
“She was sent to the scaffold because she had a sharper tongue and a shrewder mind than her accusers. It is always the case when men hang women.”
“Men call bright women dim whenever they are threatened. So take no relief in the names that any man calls thee. There is no safe harbor there.”
“There comes a time when resistance is not zealotry, but sanity.”
“I have seen too much of [the devil’s] likeness here in Boston, even among the saints.”
“I cannot open the minds of men whose brains have doors locked shut.”
The first half, “the Book of the Wife,” is almost unbearable with its never-ending unfairness, cruelty and judgment towards Mary. But that just heightens the tension and makes the payoff that much more emotionally charged. In the second half, “the Book of the Witch,” Mary switches from helpless rage to anger and she LOCKS IN (which feels damn good, lemme tell you from personal experience). Even bookended by two longish court scenes, this story can definitely be classed as a tense thriller with dashes of mystery sleuthing.
It heartened me that Mary retained her unbroken spirit, sense of self worth and understanding that she deserved happiness too. Most times, the combination of a man’s abuse and a patriarchal religion’s indoctrination simply brainwashes that out of a woman over the years (as happened to me and many friends).
For being set during Puritan times, this book has a stunningly accurate grasp on not just the calculated hidden cruelty of (sometimes much older) physically, emotionally, mentally & sexually abusive husbands to wives, but also the patriarchal legal systems which afford the wives scrutiny and judgment in place of any actual assistance, as well as the internalized misogyny, slut shaming, and pick-me attitudes of surrounding women. A patriarchal society needs all three (devil’s tines 😝) in order to keep women abused and controlled.
Throughout history, these types have never stopped trying to keep strong women in chains, even redoubling their efforts under the Orange Fascist currently in office, but we will not go silently, and we will never stop fighting for our freedom.
***
“Thou art but a woman, and a woman whose behavior has been more suspect than her husband’s has been unkind. … Even the most powerful man is powerless against a mob, especially a mob of magistrates that sees a witch in its midst.”
“There are many things in this world we should fear, but to bend one’s knees to the smallest of minds?”
“She was sent to the scaffold because she had a sharper tongue and a shrewder mind than her accusers. It is always the case when men hang women.”
“Men call bright women dim whenever they are threatened. So take no relief in the names that any man calls thee. There is no safe harbor there.”
“There comes a time when resistance is not zealotry, but sanity.”
“I have seen too much of [the devil’s] likeness here in Boston, even among the saints.”
“I cannot open the minds of men whose brains have doors locked shut.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Religious bigotry
Moderate: Torture
3.5 stars… took me a while to get into, but it really picked up in the middle and really liked it by the end
I really wanted to love this. It just didn't pull me in the way I wanted it to. It wasn't awful, just didn't blow me away
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Excellent story. A little slow to start, but I loved the characters and the setting was perfect for an October read.