Reviews tagging 'Antisemitism'

Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

11 reviews

gillian_aftanas's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Death, Grief, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Misogyny, Murder, Blood, Mental illness, Gore, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Sexism, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Classism, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, and Death of parent

Minor: Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Sexual assault, Vomit, Confinement, Child abuse, Child death, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Drug abuse, and Rape

kirsten_rainbow's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Minor: Abandonment and Antisemitism

saroreen's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture, Violence, and Blood

Minor: Antisemitism

micaelamariem's review against another edition

challenging mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

A bit disappointed with this one. Good points: it was well written and there must’ve been loads of research put into this which I respect. Not so good points: the books was unnecessarily long and many scenes could’ve been cut out, Matthew was insufferable in his secret-keeping, hypocrisy, and jealousy, and the elements of time travel didn’t make much sense as they thoroughly messed up the timeline!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Death, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Murder, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy

Minor: Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, War, Colonisation, Forced institutionalization, Torture, Addiction, Classism, Confinement, and Drug use

baearles's review

adventurous emotional mysterious 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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, Addiction, Violence, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, and Alcohol

Minor: Sexual content, Miscarriage, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Antisemitism, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Murder, and Torture

laura_mcloughlin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

My favorite of the series. Yes, the plot is extremely slow moving. It takes almost half the book for Matthew and Diana to actually start doing the thing that sent them to Elizabethian England. Do I care? No, I do not. I like the meandering plot and the characters we meet along the way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Miscarriage, and Blood

Moderate: Grief, Sexual content, Violence, Pregnancy, and Death of parent

Minor: Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Antisemitism, and Child abuse

beccaand's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Blood

Moderate: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Violence, Torture, and Death of parent

Minor: Drug use and Antisemitism

goosegrimm's review

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

Sometimes you need a campy book about witches timetraveling to elizabethian england and getting married to a vampire. This is that book. I found it really slow in the beginning, and while I do enjoy (somewhat) how complex the plotlines are, there were a few times I was frustrated by the detours. However, Harkness still has a really interesting way of handling prose. And I am a sucker for all of the history bits. And overall the last 3rd of the book was quite tight and very satisfying. If you like paranormal romances with a shocking amount of history in them, Harkness is where its at honestly.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Sexism, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, and War

Minor: Xenophobia

btrz7's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

1.5

Oh God, I thought this book would never end.
For as much as the premise sounds interesting and just what I would love (magic creatures time travelling to the past), the book itself falls miserably short of anything.
First, I think I just read a book with absolutely no plot. It drags on and on and on and you really don't know what's the point of it (or rather, you know what the point is meant to be, but the book itself seems to have forgotten). Second, the two main characters became kind of insufferable. Matthew seems to be the most important man at any point in space and time, who knows everyone of importance, is involved in everything,  and can influence just about anything and anyone. Diana is the most special witch to have existed, and despite knowing nothing about magic, she is also apparently one of the most powerful. Together, they go through time and meet a new historical figure every 10 pages or so. Forgetting, along the way, everything they're there to do.
So yeah, I fail to see what this book accomplished in the trilogy, as most of it seemed to be both of the main characters dressing up and going out and being dramatic about their marriage.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Sexual content

Minor: Antisemitism, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, and Infidelity

meganpbennett'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? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Shadow of Night picks up immediately after the ending of A Discovery of Witches, this time in 1590. Matthew and Diane go back in time in an attempt to solve a variety of mysteries that plague the present, and find the missing book. 

I'm not sure what I think. I don't really like Matthew, though he is growing on me, a bit like mold or calculus. I have issues with how he treats Diana, and how much he didn't seem willing to help her adjust to suddenly living in Elizabethan England. Or how he treats her and how he doesn't seem willing to help her when they have to go to Prague, tracking a traitor alchemist and the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Drug use, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Antisemitism, Death, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, and Sexism