Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

VenCo by Cherie Dimaline

5 reviews

susanatherly's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny hopeful tense fast-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

4.5

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zombiezami's review

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

5.0

My favorite Cherie Dimaline book so far
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ceallaighsbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

“…she carried the spoon back to her side of the bed and studied it in the light of the remaining lamp. The top of the handle was embossed with a witch—sharp hat, sharp nose, broom, the whole ugly getup—and it looked like she was pointing directly at Lettie. ‘I see you. Feels like you see me too.’ The wind, now safely outside the closed window, whistled a response.”

TITLE—VenCo
AUTHOR—Cherie Dimaline 
PUBLISHED—2023
PUBLISHER—William & Morrow

GENRE—urban fantasy
SETTING—Turtle Island (Toronto, Salem, the SW)
MAIN THEMES/SUBJECTS—witches, #HexThePatriarchy, souvenir spoons as magic objects, dreams, nightmares, & visions, fate & intention, Indigenous realities, matrilineal (not necessarily blood-bound) heritage & legacy, “the right bloodlines & teachings—the right time & place”, one of the few proper uses of “the chosen one” trope, intersectional feminism (diverse rep. incl. a trans woman character), road trip, lovable grandmother character, magic that is actually real magic

“On either side of the cobblestone path to the porch were small ponds with white marble statues of robe-draped women pouring water from slim vessels. And on each statue's right shoulder sat a small yellow bird, watching her pass. She nodded to them, then stopped to introduce herself. ‘I am the daughter of Arnya St. James, defender of women, drinker of gin, fighter of assholes, a fierce half-breed from a long line of fierce half-breeds who took no shit and gave no fucks. I am a witch and I am here.’ She supposed this was her version of making the sign of the cross before going into battle reminding herself what she believed in.”

My thoughts:
WRITING STYLE—🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 (I would have personally preferred it to lean a little more to the literary but arguably it was perfectly suited to its genre & the overall project of the book.)

CHARACTERS—🌕🌕🌕🌕🌖 (Really excellent except for that the villain was very one-dimensional, which I usually don’t like, *but* arguably it worked here, & in fact, *this* particular kind of villain *is* always going to be one-dimensional due to the nature of his particular villainy…)

STORY/PLOT—🌕🌕🌕🌕🌖 (Excellent. I was absorbed the entire time. I did sort of guess the ending but it was one of those “I *really* hope that this is where this is going” things and so I was very satisfied to see that that was indeed where Dimaline was taking her story. Honestly though I’m a little sad that this isn’t the start of a series. 😆)

BONUS ELEMENT/S—Stella. 🥹💖 Also really loved all the settings from Toronto to Salem, and Pennsylvania Dutch Country & the Ozarks to New Orleans.

PHILOSOPHY—🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 (Easily one of the best I’ve seen in a work of witchy genre fiction and the absolute *best* description of how [real] magic works: “…The magic’s not in the person. The magic is in the place. It just takes the right kind of person to pull it up. …See, belief is something that makes change. It’s why prayer benefits people, as long as the people doing all that praying believe... And when something is constant on the land, like rain or song or even footsteps, the land soaks that in and changes... But then you need the people who understand the ways to pull that soak right back up out of the land. That's where study comes in, where the witchiness needs to be. And not all people can get to some kinds of magic.” Flawless. 😚👌🏻)

PREMISE—🌕🌕🌕🌚🌚 (While this does seem on the surface like just another witch book…👇🏻)

EXECUTION—🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 (…👉🏻 the originality, insightfulness, depth, and integrity with which this particular story was told & the way these particular characters were crafted, sets this work apart from others like it.)

I would recommend this book to readers who like witchy reads but are tired of seeing the same-old same-old within the subgenre. This book is best read as an alternative to Alice Hoffman’s books. 😁

Final note: This would make an *epic* movie/tv series. 🤞🏻☺️

“Witches were not all killed by fire. We *are* the fire.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Season: Fall

CW // HP references, cancer, death of parent, grandparent with memory loss, transphobia, dead-naming, sexual assault (Please feel free to DM me for more specifics!)

Further Reading—
  • WHITE MAGIC by Elissa Washuta
  • NEVER WHISTLE AT NIGHT edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.—TBR
  • THE BOOK OF WITCHES edited by Jonathan Strahan—TBR
  • A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES by Deborah Harkness
  • LEGENDBORN by Tracy Deonn
  • SLEWFOOT by Brom—TBR
  • THE WITCHING HOUR by Anne Rice
  • TOIL AND TROUBLE edited by Jessica Spotswood & Tess Sharpe
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samantha1960's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious fast-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

5.0

A fun modern take on magic! Dimaline has the perfect voice to balance fantasy and reality making her characters relatable and loveable. A perfect read for the autumn season 🕯️🔮
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valodniece's review against another edition

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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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