Reviews tagging 'Outing'

Witches of Ash and Ruin by E. Latimer

6 reviews

reflectiverambling_nalana's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Toxic friendship, Grief, Outing, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Biphobia, Death, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Mental illness

msradiosilence's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.0

Tldr; I ship Meiner and Dayna, but this book leaves a loooooot unanswered. Hoping for a sequel, because there were several interesting plotlines that were just…dropped.

Read my full review at: https://www.rainyreader.com/single-post/witches-of-ash-and-ruin.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Cursing, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Blood, Death, Dementia, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Outing, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Biphobia, Cannibalism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

solarorange's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

3.0

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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.

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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

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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

bi_n_large's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

I have a lot of “why” questions.

WHY did this book end with a sequel hook??
As soon as I realized we were headed for sequel territory, I immediately stopped caring about how the book would end.

WHY was my favorite character killed off?
Cora was my favorite of the MANY POV characters because of her ambition and brutality. I would have preferred to read an entire book about her. Sadly, she unwittingly sacrifices herself in the climax and is possessed by a goddess?? Probably?? She was the only character I really liked, so my investment in the sequel is compromised.

WHY did Dayna’s ex-boyfriend have a POV???
At no point did I feel like Sam needed to be in the narrative AT ALL. His true crime obsession didn’t add much to the plot and, OH, HE OUTED DAYNA. AND some of the comments he made throughout the book revealed a biphobic belief system? FUCK this guy!! Why should I care about him??

Because this book tried to set up so much, the plot felt chaotic throughout. I did like the OCD and bisexual rep, though, as well as Dayna’s relationship with her very religious father. If either of those elements had been explored in more depth (as was promised in the plot synopsis), this could have been one of my favorite reads of the year.

I’m of two minds about the sequel. I wouldn’t mind reading more about these messy magic girls.

If, however, it means stomaching 400 more pages of Sam the biphobe, I’ll pass.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Outing, Bullying, Mental illness, and Animal death

Moderate: Murder, Violence, Death, and Blood