Reviews tagging 'Cultural appropriation'

Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by Brom

13 reviews

natthorpe's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Religious bigotry, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

Moderate: Confinement, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, and Fire/Fire injury

leshalea30's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Confinement

solarel's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

People suck. 

I’m conflicted a bit. While I enjoyed the main two characters, Abitha and Samson, I found the plot as a whole to be very… typical? 

Samson’s story was by far the most interesting plot line. I enjoyed watching him struggle to find who he really is. Is he the monster or the savior? Abitha however, her story felt not just predictable but inevitable. The last third of the book is pure torture porn, and she did not grow as a character. She is merely an instrument of a vengeance arc. 

I saw a lot of reviewers say this story was very white. And I think I see what they mean. I don’t know what the author’s religious background is, but this read as a very Christian framed story. People said this was a horror novel. I didn’t find it scary, only sad. People were the villain. Puritan culture was the villain. And yet it still felt like it was still validating their beliefs in the end with what was supposed to be the “horror”. 

I don’t know if that makes sense, but “pagan” aspects were not rooted in lore beyond that of Christianity. I guess that’s what made it feel like more of a fantasy masquerade of a pagan story of blurred good and evil. 

Stars for ambiance and entertainment only. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

jessie_cobb's review against another edition

dark tense fast-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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation

Minor: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

killmoore_'s review against another edition

dark sad 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

3.0

Whelp. That was a story. 

Good for her. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

audreyesp's review against another edition

dark 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racism, Violence, and Cultural appropriation

judassilver's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism and Child death

library_goth's review against another edition

dark hopeful reflective 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? Yes

5.0

I could read this 100 times. The characters are vivid, the storytelling is incredible, the pacing just right. I especially enjoyed the messaging about complicated morals, religious hypocrisy, and the duality of all living things.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexism, Torture, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Confinement, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Slavery and Suicidal thoughts

attackrat's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.5

the artwork is beautiful and the atmosphere was pretty good, but it lacked the proper tone for a horror. the only horror aspects were strewn in graphic violence that really didn’t match the rest of the story. and the story itself was pretty derivative, there wasn’t really any unique spin put on the puritan-witch-trials/“good for her” narrative and I was bummed by that. the characters were mostly caricatures from witch stories that have already been done before. and the ending was such a let-down; the last quarter was just unnecessary torture-p*rn and predictable oh shit moments. 

and this is a personal gripe but i’m almost certain that the characters are not using “mayhap” right and they say it so often that i just could not look past it. i liked Slewfoot and Abitha (even though they were sooo cheesy sometimes) but not enough to save the book unfortunately. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation

naereads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense fast-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, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Excrement, Grief, Cannibalism, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail