Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by Brom

29 reviews

lupalionessa's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.0

I love a historical thriller and this one was definitely fascinating. I loved the development of the lore, which took Christian demonology and played with it in an interesting way. Some will be a bit disappointed the author didn’t go full Satan but I found it more interesting and nuanced.

I loved how erotic and sensual the feeling of Abithas magic was - really tapping into the idea of religious ecstasy. It was also written so tangibly that you could almost feel it yourself (pun intended.)

The pacing was pretty good and I feel like if I wasn’t busy with work I would have finished this much quicker. Overall, a great read. 

Also, Wallace, when I catch you Wallace!!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, and Torture

karmascycles's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

I found this book to be conflicting for me and throughout the entire story I kept changing how I felt about it. In general I am not a fan of puritan/god-focused/misogynistic books because I find them to be tired, annoying, and overdone. I became more intrigued with Slewfoot after the introduction

to Samson and his interactions with Abitha

However, it seemed to be a constant up and down for me.

The amount of graphic female torture by the male characters in this book was too much for me.

It felt unnecessary to show it in great detail, over and over again, in order to get the point across, really. It's like, in a way, yes I understand we are talking about a 17th century puritan village but like, come on, did we have to describe every detail? Did we have to draw it out over and over and over again when it happened? Besides that, many of the characters felt a little too one-dimensional. They were either mean or they weren't. That was all there was to them.
I think my other issue with books like this, whose entire plot revolves around the suffering of women, is that for me the revenge will never be enough. There is no amount of revenge on abusive men that can be done to ever satisfy me, so I am tired of reading about it.

I'd hoped this book would've been more about Abitha leaving the people behind in order to form a new life with Samson, however that wasn't exactly the case.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Grief, and Murder

mintywitch's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Death of parent

lrmukmvt's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Bullying

meyeram30's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

A folk tale that’s wicked, witchy, enticing and philosophical- I was HOOKED! Abitha and Samson are such lovable, though flawed, characters making them easy to root for. Antagonists are equally awful making them easy characters to root against. There are complexities in a lot of the town folk characters which adds in thought provoking dimension. There is so much to read between the lines with moral and identity struggles any reader can connect to. The gory passages were twistingly cathartic in most scenarios and written in a way that made me squirm. Such a great story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Death

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Blood

amarakrein's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-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

4.75

I really enjoyed reading thos book. I did find the reflection on puritan culture to ne a little confusing at times. I find the main character gets away with a lot in this story. Worth the read though

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death and Murder

misslys's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

eldritchpurr's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Violence, Religious bigotry, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

vixenreader's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

A dark, bewitching novel, it is a tale of reclaiming your identity, listening to your intuition, and the empowerment of creation and connection (Abitha and Samson make a beautiful couple) with well-rounded characters, rich folklore, and phenomenal storytelling. Seriously, this book is a work of magic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Police brutality, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Be aware that this book touches on violence against women, mistreatment and torture because of witchcraft accusations, Puritan dogma, Satanic Panic, cat murder, hanging, drowning, scapegoating, and Pagan worship.

felofhe's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism