Reviews tagging 'Antisemitism'

The Light of the Midnight Stars by Rena Rossner

17 reviews

lavenderhimbo's review

dark emotional reflective sad fast-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

3.5

I wanted to love this book, and I adored the prose and style as well as some of the characters. However, I felt like the magic/fantasy/politics were under explored for how cool they could have been. I was also uncomfortable with some of the themes around marriage and pregnancy. The queer relationship/character are also barely explored and do not feel very genuine.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Antisemitism, Lesbophobia, and Murder

Moderate: Vomit, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, and Sexual assault

zluke's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad medium-paced

• 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? Yes

4.5

Incredibly moving, beautifully written, but also really sad. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Rape

Minor: War

kitkatkick's review

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Antisemitism, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, and Genocide

Minor: War and Fire/Fire injury

Major religious persecution, very explicit (though not “graphic,” per se) description of a major character burned at the stake, graphic description of a main character buried alive and suffocated, attempt at infanticide, mentions of mass murder by burning people within a Synagogue

eh1736's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Pregnancy, Child death, Hate crime, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Murder and Rape

texassizedreads's review

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism

Moderate: Confinement, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Rape, and Genocide

briannad4's review

slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Transphobia, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault and Suicide

Minor: War

egfrith's review

emotional sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Antisemitism, Fire/Fire injury, and Hate crime

Moderate: Death

imds's review

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Death, Murder, Antisemitism, Suicidal thoughts, and Hate crime

Moderate: Suicide

rainkatzanddogs's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism

Moderate: Rape

jennamcclendon's review

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

Honestly, this book is really slow. It was really hard for me to get into in the beginning. I loved the Jewish aspects and I liked the characters, but it felt like nothing was happening. It didn’t really start to pick up until everyone was getting married and the court drama started. Once Theodor/Theodora, Constantin, and the star-man and Nikolas came into play, that’s when I felt like the story really began. I also really wasn’t expecting the LGBTQ+ representation and I thought that was a really nice touch though I’m not sure how I feel about how their relationship ended. Overall, this was really good! I loved the way it was written, especially with the poetry-like format as well. It was fun to read a “fairytale” retelling (?) from another culture’s point of view like this. I definitely learned a lot, too. :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism

Moderate: Sexual violence and Antisemitism

Minor: Child abuse and Child death