Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by Brom

102 reviews

widowrites's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-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

3.5

Basically, I enjoyed this book. It was a little slow for my taste, and I kept looking at the page count wondering how much longer until it ends. It’s well written and the characters are complex. Not something I would read again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

devinjai6655's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

The cat does die in the book, beaten to death when Abitha is accused of witchcraft.

stephanieanneauthor's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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

5.0

This book gave me everything I wanted and more! I tend to prefer psychological and body horror, but the mix of dark fantasy and historical fiction is blended perfectly into the horrors that occur. And yes, I got some body horror out of this story. As an additional bonus, the audiobook is well narrated.

Brom's writing style is beautiful, and I felt just about every emotion over the course of this dark tale. And given the multitudes of dualities - man vs nature, woman vs man, pagan vs christian, etc - I wouldn't be surprised if I got more out of a second reading. This might just have to be something I re-read in the future.

Overall, the story reminds me of that meme that's something along the lines of: my favourite horror movie genre is "good for her". I cheered Abitha's every success and felt my heart ache for her with every failure. Good for her!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Gun violence, Racism, Forced institutionalization, and Grief

adbooks20's review against another edition

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: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Classism

hannahhorror_'s review against another edition

dark 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

4.0

A satisfying read but I wasn’t prepared for how graphically violent it is. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

honeygore's review against another edition

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? Yes

5.0

This story definitely falls under the category of "good for her" I absolutely enjoyed every single second of this book with only one exception (animal death). Other than that it was twisted and gruesome and lovely! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Sexual content, Vomit, Death of parent, and Alcohol

klsreads's review against another edition

challenging dark funny sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book was not what I expected, but I had a fun time so ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.  The 1600's protagonist read like a modern woman, and the pacing was a bit odd. It is horror, so there is gore and explicit torture/violence. I was really excited for the last 20% of the book and it delivered. Beyond that, the discussions on ecocide and spirituality/religion really hit, as well as the rumination on the nature of evil. I loved the intermingling of Native American folklore, fairy tales, and Christianity.

Consider checking the cws/tws. The art in the book is super spooky and cool. I think it added a lot to the experience!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Colonisation

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

allyareads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Dark, moody and atmospheric. This was a slow build into a violent crescendo. The unhurried pace really helped cement the menacing dread that was growing and the steady undoing of the character's mental state. My anxiety was manifesting physically and I was too aware of my heart beating and muscles tensing. The pacing alone might not be for everyone but I really appreciated it.
I'd also love to mention the character art in the book! Stunning and creepy. Love, love, love it.
I'm gonna need more books to provide their own art. 

File under: "Good for her (them)" + "I support women's rights AND women's wrongs".

Imagine a mix of Robert Egger's The Witch and a less sapphic Fear Street 1666. 
Moral of the story; the Puritans were really fucking scary and nothing is more haunting than the rightousness of a group of people who envoke God to deliver punishment.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent

ellornaslibrary's review

dark emotional mysterious 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

2.0

This book is marketed as horror, and there are parts that definitely left me feeling a little scared at first. Except then it becomes something altogether and different. The thing that should scare you isn't what you should be scared of essentially. Always love it if it is done well and the possibility was there just wasn't delivered upon in the end. I liked Abitha a lot and the other main character a good deal; found the story fascinating enough to continue reading after the book turned out not to be what I was hoping for when I picked it up. I even found the side characters interesting.

However, the story moves so slow and the satisfaction I was hoping to find in this new possible story presented was short-lived as it turned into the usual predictable story. It was at least going to be a 3 or 3.5 star book though until the blatant ableism right at the end. Literal magic in this book, used multiple times throughout to do amazing things, and then we get to this part and just. . . it was insulting and offensive so now it's a 2 star book and I don't know if I'll pick up another book from this author anytime soon.

CW Ableism details:

magic used to make corn sprout from the dirt, to make bees mass produce honey, to make them fly at one point on a broom. . . And instead of healing her damaged legs, makes a comment about living as a cripple the rest of her days and she shudders at the idea. Her reaction is even worse considering that her husband was disabled. . . Nevermind she could have all sorts of options with literal magic at her fingertips too even if her legs weren't fully healed. Just so offensive and exhausting at this point to see this attitude presented.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Gaslighting

rubys100's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Religious bigotry, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying and Grief