Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Witches of Ash and Ruin by E. Latimer

4 reviews

solarorange's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Stalking

Moderate: Self harm, Biphobia, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence

Minor: Dementia

t_bird's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny fast-paced

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

3.5

There were some parts of this book I really liked and some that I don’t know how to feel about. For instance, I appreciated the thoughtful depiction of mental health, but I found the opening of the book through the eyes of a serial murderer of women to be jarring and shockingly without trigger warning (something I’d expect a person with mental health literacy to do for members of their audience who may have been victims of assault from men). I did enjoy the crime-novel-meets-Celtic-mythology-meets-modern-witchcraft vibe a lot. And as far as the primary romantic relationship goes, I liked that the two girls had shared struggles and could understand each other in that way. On the other hand, Meiner’s diagnosis is never really shared, and her anger management issues seem like a second problem (and as somebody with personal experience here, it’s a little difficult for me to ship a relationship with someone else whose anger, though understandable, tends towards violence and bleeds out to people who haven’t done anything to deserve it). ALSO

I was so upset about the mom plot. I didn’t feel like it was necessary for a plot that already had so much betrayal and drama, and was a very unsatisfying conclusion to the mystery of what was happening to her mom. It also weirdly absolved a lot of the dad’s fault. Didn’t love the “oh I guess he’s not abusing her, she really is just crazy” conclusion.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Misogyny, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Gore, Homophobia, Stalking, Self harm, Religious bigotry, and Forced institutionalization

Warning, opening scene is from the perspective of a serial killer, who thinks in detail about what he likes about killing women. There are a few more chapters from his perspective, but they’re easier to read after the first one because you know they’re coming.

candycain's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Death, Abandonment, Dementia, Mental illness, Stalking, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Outing, Religious bigotry, and Physical abuse

booksandprosecco's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Book review • Witches of Ash and Ruin by E. Latimer - 3.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

Thank you to HBG Canada for sending me a final copy of this to read and review! 

WoAaR definitely had me intrigued from the beginning. I loved the magic and the magical connections that people had. Not to mention that we get queer witches!

The romance was a bit meh for me, and at times, the plot felt a little obvious. For example, one character would be missing some information, but it would be conveniently provided to us in the next scene.

TW: outing someone - this made me mad. Not just that a character is outed, but that the person who did it doesn’t really face any consequences. I wish this was addressed more.

In general though, the story was well-paced and flowed well. I enjoyed it and definitely still recommend it!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Physical abuse

Minor: Self harm