Reviews tagging 'Miscarriage'

Conjure Women by Afia Atakora

42 reviews

nialiversuch's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Grief, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Blood, Torture, Violence, War, Colonisation, Cursing, Murder, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Kidnapping, Medical content, Child death, Death, Body horror, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, and Trafficking

Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Abortion, Vomit, Miscarriage, and Suicidal thoughts

thenovelmaura's review against another edition

Maybe it's because I was listening to this as an audiobook, but I couldn't bring myself to finish it. It dragged so much; I actually kept thinking I had to be halfway through the book by now, then whenever I looked at my phone it was 20%. I understand that Rue felt a responsibility to the people on the former plantation, but it was too painful to keep listening when it was clear that something horrible was going to happen to her due to their distrust of her magic and baby Bean. If the shoe had dropped sooner, maybe I would still be listening? The setting and writing were lovely and it was clear that a lot of research had gone into this book; it just wasn't for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery

Moderate: Sexual violence and Miscarriage

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

 

The Conjure Women by Afia Atakora is a much newer book that unfolds in two timelines and tells the story of Rue and her mother May Belle, before, during and after the Civil War. Much of the story is centred on the community turning on Rue when she delivers a baby that people find unnerving and is later unable to cure children who fall ill. Another strand centres on the complicated relationship between Rue and the plantation owner’s daughter, Varina. It’s a very female centred story that examines motherhood, explores the intersection of gender and race, and looks at the concept of privilege and freedom within the plantation system and its aftermath. The writing was powerful and the structure, especially the way the story moved back and forward in time, really held my attention. The struggles and uncertainties of the immediate post-slavery era for Blacks are clearly portrayed. I was interested to learn that this novel is at least partly based on first accounts gathered by the WPA in the 1930s.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Rape, Slavery, and Racism

rescudde's review against another edition

dark 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, and Slavery

sneema's review against another edition

emotional informative mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

I mean.... a book about hoodoo, plant medicine, black midwifery traditions, and community dynamics under devastating circumstances??? Yeah this was for me!!!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Rape, Violence, Racism, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Medical trauma

khakipantsofsex's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Child death, Miscarriage, Abortion, and Rape

wellreadjill_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Racial slurs, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Hate crime, Racism, Rape, Abortion, Child abuse, Child death, Pregnancy, Murder, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, and Death

foreverinastory's review against another edition

challenging emotional slow-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

4.0

Rep: Black female MC, Black/biracial male love interest, Black and biracial supporting cast.

CWs: Abortion, alcohol consumption, alcoholism, blood, death/death of parent, domestic abuse, fire, infidelity, injury/injury detail, medical content, miscarriage/stillbirth, misogyny, murder, pregnancy, racial slurs, racism, rape, consensual sexual content, slavery, violence, war. Moderate: gore, torture, lynching. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, and War

Moderate: Gore and Torture

laurareads87's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

Deeply moving and beautifully written, Conjure Women follows Rue, a young woman who, following in her mother's footsteps, grows up to be a healer and conjurer.  The story takes place on a plantation and alternates chapter to chapter between just prior to the Civil War ('Slaverytime') and just after ('Freedomtime'); the focus is on Rue, her mother May Belle, and their relationships with other (formerly) enslaved people as well as with the plantation owner's daughter.  I love so much about this book: Atakora's writing is evocative, the setting is very clearly established, the characters are complex and well-developed, and the relationship dynamics are compelling.  Atakora describes the historical research she conducted for this book in the afterword, and it really shows in the novel itself in the best possible way.  Conjure Women is an incredible novel and I cannot wait to read more from Afia Atakora.
<i>Content warnings:</i> this novel is set during and just after slavery in the American South and, as such, depicts the horrors of slavery: murder, violence, lynching, rape, torture, death of children, miscarriage, racism, misogyny, forcible confinement, medical violence

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Sexual violence, Violence, Rape, Child death, Animal death, Death of parent, Racism, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Confinement, and Medical trauma

nilanthi's review

adventurous mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Rape, Violence, Sexual violence, and Miscarriage