Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

VenCo by Cherie Dimaline

10 reviews

nidzi_c's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

blacksphinx's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

Of all the things that rubbed me wrong about this book, from its rah rah girlboss girlpower vibes, to it's paper thin antagonist, to

fixing dementia with magic

, it's the fact that the covid pandemic is canon to this book and not once is a character shown taking any precaution against it. "Oh but you see, the book takes place in 2022 so it's not an issue anymore!" As of the time I'm writing this review in late 2023, over 1,000 Americans have died directly from covid each week for the last 11 weeks in a row. If the author didn't want to deal with the thought of masks or air filtration or testing, all she had to do was remove a single sentence confirming the pandemic existed. That's it! But no, her thinking about the pandemic was as shallow as her thoughts on feminism and capitalism. 

The main thing it had going for it was that at least this girlboss book has a genuinely diverse cast of women who are allowed to be girlbosses, including a trans woman and many women of color, that was a nice touch. However, I have never known a trans person who would immediately offer up their dead name to a stranger like that. It was just a mess. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Dementia, Transphobia, Sexism, Misogyny, Alcohol, and Death of parent

Moderate: Cancer, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Deadnaming, and Violence

Minor: Alcoholism, Confinement, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Torture

zombiezami's review

adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

5.0

My favorite Cherie Dimaline book so far

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Misogyny, Dementia, Violence, Murder, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, and Sexism

Moderate: Alcohol, Body horror, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Vomit, Torture, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Gaslighting

Minor: Transphobia and Homophobia

lilacs_book_bower's review against another edition

adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I really enjoyed this one and it is a fun quick read.  There are several women from lots of different backgrounds who all come together on a quest to find an item, as well as the last witch to complete their coven.  The villain is very bad and (CW) sexually assaults people by messing with their ability to consent, and I feel like the book doesn't deal with that, or even acknowledge it.  Tbf, the main characters don't really know it, but it feels like that aspect is underwritten.  There were a few questions I had about the plot or world building, but I was able to put them aside and just appreciate the book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Ableism, Classism, Death, Violence, Colonisation, Dementia, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

valodniece's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

4.25

At first I thought it was going to be merely average, a witchy road trip and not much else, but the ending really did wrap things up with a nice feel-good bow that I hadn't seen coming but that made all the sense in the world. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Colonisation, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Transphobia, Car accident, Grief, Sexism, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Blood, Deadnaming, Medical content, Racism, Sexual assault, and Bullying

bookishcookiemonster's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

The book takes a few chapters to pick up its pace, but once the adventure starts, the story goes very fast. Its engaging, and definitely had me at the edge of the seat quite a few times. 
SPOILER:
 

I really enjoyed that the various witches weren't all one kind of witch, but women who came from different backgrounds of magic. Also, really liked how important previous generations of women were to the main character's journey. I wish we had got to see more of the relationship between Prue, and Jay Christos, like how they met, why they even started dating, how deeply in love were they?, etc

 

Overall, enjoyable book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Stalking, Death, Sexism, Murder, and Death of parent

Minor: Domestic abuse

maregred's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Sexism, Death, Murder, and Misogyny

Moderate: Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Cancer

Minor: Transphobia, Domestic abuse, Religious bigotry, Grief, and Pregnancy

bedtimesandbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Murder, Transphobia, Dementia, Cancer, Deadnaming, and Misogyny

internationalreads's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

The plot was a bit predictable but I enjoyed it all the same! Loved the diverse characters & magic systems, the badass lovable characters, and the feminism.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Alcohol, Cursing, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Grief, Vomit, Misogyny, Sexism, Death, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Deadnaming, and Murder

Moderate: Torture

readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

tense medium-paced

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

3.25

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Before getting into the ins and outs of the plot let me just say that, as always, Cherie Dimaline is a phenomenal writer. She is fantastic at creating vivid imagery without being flowery in her writing. Without even having to try, an image will come to mind while reading, and that is undoubtedly the mark of a skillful author. To evoke imagery in such a way.

For the story itself, I wanted to give four stars, and really felt it would be in the first 40% of the book, but dropped down as the story progressed. The story is full of intrigue from start to finish. We wonder who these characters are, how they play together and what their roles will be, and who is the holder of the final spoon. Histories mesh and collide, as they work as individuals in a much larger organism. However, although those elements work for an entertaining, vivid, and unique story, they fell a bit flat to me. Without giving anything away, I saw the ending coming a mile away. There were so many characters it became hard to keep track of everyone and their backstories. The world building also required a lot of explaining and questioning, because the characters in fact don't know what they're doing most of the time. They're working on a goal that is surrounded by a lot of mystery. Although it didn't come together for me, I do believe plenty of others will be happy and fulfilled with it.  I suspect this book will be either a hit or miss for readers all coming down to preferences.

What was most exciting was the individual characters and who they are as people. There is so much diversity in a way that didn't feel like tokenism. There are so many queer characters and characters of different ethnic/racial backgrounds. Although their identities are a focal point for all of them, it isn't the base of their journeys. They exist in their current lives and in their identities while working on their goals which remains part of the big picture. It was a pleasant balance.

I was also quite fond of the overall messaging too. About women empowerment, community, and overcoming an oppressive patriarchy. There's a lot of sexism in the book but it is tackled in every decision and action each woman makes.

Overall, I think this will be a lot of people's new favorite book. For me it wasn't a total hit, but I liked it well enough that I will recommend to friends.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Dementia, Violence, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Transphobia, Deadnaming, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Drug use, Alcohol, and Death

Moderate: Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, and Ableism

Minor: Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Cancer, Suicide, Incest, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Vomit, and Terminal illness

Homelessness, necrophilia (up to interpretation), lynching,