Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid

64 reviews

lindseyhall44's review against another edition

dark 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

3.5

Review is withheld in solidarity of Harper Collins’s workers/union on strike.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Gore, Religious bigotry, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Death, Grief, Self harm, Violence, Torture, and War

gemmie_gee's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, War, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Bullying, Murder, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent and Grief

adonis_march's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring tense 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? It's complicated

3.75

The Wolf and the Woodsman is a debut novel. It’s got the clunk of one. But by god, is it a good debut novel. For all my issues with some of the tropes in this book, and it’s pacing, and occasionally meandering plot, the latter half of this novel had my heart pounding, my stomach doing turns.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Religious bigotry, Violence, Death, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Blood, Murder, Gore, and Hate crime

Moderate: Classism, Torture, Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Bullying, Self harm, Body horror, War, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Animal death, Xenophobia, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Animal cruelty, Confinement, and Kidnapping

This is a book very much about the horrific history and acts of Christian zealotry that caused both pagan and Jewish communities to be wiped out, and echoes the centuries of fear and grief that the Jewish community has had to endure since.

sarah2438's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

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

3.0

This had a promising start but ultimately just didn't work for me. The plot felt very dragged out, and I didn't feel any chemistry between the two main characters. I think this was a great concept and I applaud Reid for her world building and the actual writing, but the plot itself didn't work for me. Also, I don't mind some dark themes, but the gore and pointless slaughter of animals was gratuitous.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Xenophobia, Body horror, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Animal death, and Bullying

grace_yin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Bullying, and Physical abuse

tahsintries's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, and Bullying

Moderate: Confinement, Death of parent, Racism, Blood, Grief, Child abuse, Colonisation, Hate crime, and Genocide

fesd5's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

4.5

An excellent read, perfect for lovers of Naomi Novik (particularly Uprooted and Spinning Silver). This book defies norms and as a result, serves as a human, intricate, gripping and gruesome telling of oppression, being without a place, and finding a home. Despite the book being excellently written with incredible characters and intriguing plot, I felt I couldn't give this book all 5 stars because I didn't find it as gripping as other novels I've read. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Antisemitism, Gore, Animal death, Bullying, and Murder

saurahsaurus's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Confinement, Death, Gore, Racism, Violence, Animal death, Colonisation, Antisemitism, Blood, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Bullying, Child abuse, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Abandonment, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Murder, Body horror, Grief, and Sexual content

Minor: Infidelity and War

r_a_bell's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

The perfect example of what a stand-alone should be! You get all of the story of a trilogy in one book. The beginning journey did seem a little pointless in the end, and I kind of wish it had been a bit shorter if it wasn’t really going to go anywhere. However, it was still enjoyable to read and didn’t feel unnecessarily drawn out. I love how realistic it was its depiction of social structures and relationships, especially in regard to religion. I also really liked the end! It didn’t wrap everything up in a neat little bow just because that’s what the author thought readers would want. The ending was realistic and true to the story, yet satisfying, and it left that little kernel of hope that everything would end up as a “happily ever after.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Grief, War, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Violence, Body horror, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Genocide, Sexual content, Hate crime, Misogyny, Torture, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Death of parent, Physical abuse, and Antisemitism

onthesamepage's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-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

5.0

This is the kind of fantasy that I truly love, but I understand why it won't appeal to everyone. If you enjoyed Uprooted by Naomi Novik, I would recommend giving this a try as well, because the tone and the pacing of both books felt very similar to me. The stories are completely different, though.

The most important thing to know is that this book is slow paced. And I don't mean that it dragged, just that we can spend many chapters following our characters as they travel through a forest and are confronted with obstacles on their journey. If that's not the kind of story you enjoy reading, then this book is probably not for you.

The world is based on Hungarian and Jewish history/myths, and a lot of the plot is about toxic nationalism. Gáspár, the titular woodsman and actually the prince, has a younger brother who is convinced that anyone who is "other" needs to be killed for their country to flourish. This includes the tribes who live in the forest and follow a pagan religion, but also the Yehuli, who are confined to a specific part of the city, and frequently persecuted. I don't know enough about Hungarian history to draw any kind of parallels, but I do find this exploration to be fascinating because of the parallels with Palestine and Israel, even though the roles are reversed in that case. I also really appreciated Évike's personal journey to figure out who she is and who she belongs to. As someone who is biracial, it's something I've always struggled with, because I don't quite fit within either culture. Évike's eagerness to learn more about her Yehuli heritage really endeared her to me.

I enjoyed the romance between Évike and Gáspár, but I wouldn't consider them a new favourite couple. The development from enemies to reluctant allies and then to lovers felt natural and unforced, and all of it done without the romance becoming the main focus of the story.

The writing is beautiful. It's descriptive without ever becoming purple, and I found great enjoyment in sinking into the words. I also especially loved the stories Évike tells Gáspár; the dynamic between them during those sections was fantastic to see, but I also just loved the fairytales themselves, which never ended quite the way you'd expect.

All in all a masterful book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Self harm, and Violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Animal death, Torture, Physical abuse, and Bullying