Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

40 reviews

k_galloway's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.5

beautifully written, but i’m sick of white authors writing characters of  color with internalized racism as their main (and sometimes only) trait. do better.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Classism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Animal cruelty, Blood, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Trafficking, Colonisation, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Gore, Gun violence, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Medical content, and Medical trauma

marioosa517's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Blood, Classism, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Racism, and Self harm

Minor: Death, Stalking, War, Cursing, Body horror, Alcohol, Child abuse, Gore, Grief, Animal cruelty, and Cultural appropriation

zimmerlemon's review

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

It took me a while to get through this, but I think the first ~half was just slower than I expected. Overall I did enjoy the two perspectives etc and it definitely won me over by the end for sure. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, and Blood

faduma's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Gun violence, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Xenophobia, Death, Forced institutionalization, and Racism

melancholymegs's review

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, Child abuse, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, and Self harm

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Murder, Blood, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Colonisation, Classism, Gaslighting, Gun violence, and Xenophobia

dariusmortee's review

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious slow-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

5.0

Holy shit why haven’t I read this book sooner. It’s so good and magical and exactly in my alley. 

I would compare this book to The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern in vibes. 

Alix managed to write this book in a way I start to believe there may be actually Doors hidden in our world. It makes me want to go and explore, see if I can end up in different worlds, without minding the risk of ending up in a shitty one. I love how stories are woven through this book it makes it so much more magical. 

The Once and Future Witches was my first book by Alix E Harrow and I will absolutely read more if she decides to publish them. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Classism, Racism, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Confinement, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Death of parent, Slavery, Gaslighting, Torture, Forced institutionalization, and Grief

saturnsierra's review

adventurous challenging dark tense 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? It's complicated

3.5

It was a very slow start for me, but the plot picks up around page 100.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm

Moderate: Blood, Misogyny, Racism, Classism, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Slavery

waytoomanybooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense 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

3.0

Harrow writes beautiful prose and excellently nails the desperate longing for something more that every young  woman feels growing up in a world full of adults who make it their mission to squash their spirits. January, Ade, and Jane are brave and strong in the face of prejudice and heartache, and I can't help but sympathize with them on a rather personal level.

The concept of looking for an escape, a way out, a Door is deeply relatable. There is nothing more appealing to me than a door. Especially when that door is old, secluded, or has a special Something that has drawn me to it. I find it difficult to resist the urge to try to open every door I pass, and then I am left wondering what was behind it, even years after I've passed it by. It was so cathartic to see a character who is just like me in that regard, always asking questions and looking for answers.

If there was anything I'd say against it, it's that descriptions of events, people, places, etc. trailed on for too long until it felt as though I was reading a list of adjectives. She's also quite fond of the words "oil," "greasy," "shush," and "bronze." And the ending was rather abrupt.

Overall, I enjoyed this read. And it hits a lot of bullet points in my reading wheelhouse: female MC, historical settings, time travel, magical realism, secret doors/passages, and women on journies.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Misogyny, Colonisation, Animal cruelty, Blood, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Grief, Classism, Confinement, Racism, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, and Forced institutionalization

eruby's review

adventurous 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? No

4.25

This is a good book. Interesting premise, beautiful writing, loveable characters, a dog sidekick that doesn't die, the plot coming together nicely at the end. I only wish I had read it earlier in my life. At its core, this is a coming of age story, a story of a sheltered 17 year old embarking on an adventure and finding out the world isn't everything she had been told it was. It is a story of a girl who finds freedom after spending her life chafing against the strict rules, and learning about heartbreak, resilience, and tragedy along the way. These are themes that I know would have resonated very strongly with me when I was in high school and college and that I still connect with at 27 but just not as strongly. There are certain elements of this book that feel like a young adult novel (though I didn't see it billed as YA), aside from the main character being a teenager- mainly that the symbolism and thematic elements are very in-your-face (for example,

the character closing the doors being named Locke

). I also think I've been reading too much high fantasy with hard magic systems and deep lore because I had to stop myself from thinking too deeply about the mechanics of these doors. Like, why doesn't time progress differently between the different worlds? Does our world and The Written have a special relationship in that the people can reproduce, or can all people from all worlds reproduce? Why are there three known doors to The Written but only one for every other world? But these questions don't really matter and explanations wouldn't actually add much to the story, so now I'm just rambling. 

All that said, I really enjoyed this book and I think if it existed and I had read it 5-10 years ago I would have given it five stars instead of 4.25.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Self harm, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Colonisation

ijustreallyliketrees's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Racial slurs, Animal cruelty, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting