Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by Brom

100 reviews

abelle's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

cdiamante's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

Slewfoot follows the classic narrative of the Puritan witch, a woman who is perceived as dangerous for her differences, who finds solace in none other than the devil. It takes mythology from various belief systems, not sticking strictly to Christian principles of witchcraft.
I found myself enthralled in the narrative from the start. As a protagonist, Abitha was incredibly likable and sympathetic, having human flaws while still being the innocent that the narrative required her to be in order to work. The book balances revenge and mercy with a perfect amount of nuance, it is incredibly satisfying to see how characters get their just desserts, for better and for worse. The side characters all had appropriate depth, and even the antagonists feel well developed.
The one thing that didn’t fully feel resolved to me is the horror aspect, apart from the beginning, I didn’t find Samson threatening, and I didn’t find the ambiance overly eerie, so I treated the book more as a novel than a horror story.
Overall I was incredibly invested in the story, and I found it very well written, I would recommend this book to anyone, horror lover or not, so long as gore is not an issue for them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Misogyny, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

goldensisyphus's review

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

Fantastic story! Unique and unlike anything I've ever read. I loved this book so much!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

discodanika's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This was book was recommended to me when I was searching for "live deliciously" type of vibes.

In the end, I'd say there was a lot of living deliciously. There was a lot of femme suffering & some 1666 based racism and lack of regard for the Pequot people. Some classic tales of "Goody Proctor saw her acting like a witch in the town square!"...but overall, I did enjoy Abitha, Samson, their wildfolk friends and the character development. If you've always wanted to feel enchanted and dance naked in the woods with your own personal demon, this book is for you. I wish there was more of the magic and good for her energy, more being bewitched with your devilish lover, and less annoying men doing annoying things & less religious f*ckery causing issues. However, I did love the little moment with the devil and the reverend at the end. But yeah, I'll be sad today thinking about how I wish Samson was here to wisk me away as we dance naked in the sky above the bewitched woods. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Blood, Grief, and Religious bigotry

rachelunabridged's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Colonisation

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Cursing, and Grief

Minor: Death of parent and Alcohol

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

bethijay's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This would have been the best book I read in 2024, but it took me until the end of January to finish it. Really intense at times, the story left me guessing. I will definitely be rereading this many years to come.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Racism, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Grief, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

the bad guys die in the end and vengeance is had for all the brutality earlier in the book

jarolyn's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

florencia_inferno's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Colonisation

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Grief, Outing, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Emotional abuse and Fire/Fire injury

boyname's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail