Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Conjure Women by Afia Atakora

9 reviews

book_cave_ghost_girl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

Unforgettable deep dive into the immense cruelty and dehumanization of chattel slavery and the complex relationships of the characters with each other when it comes to love and power-- will make you feel your feelings!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Slavery, Sexism, Murder, Death of parent, Child abuse, Miscarriage, Grief, Emotional abuse, Child death, Racism, Religious bigotry, Hate crime, Gore, Blood, Violence, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, and Death

Moderate: Sexual content, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Sexism, Misogyny, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Alcoholism, Murder, War, Infidelity, Pedophilia, and Child death

michaelion's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.25

Something's missing. I found myself confused through most the book, and not in the normal way that I like to be confused whenever I'm reading magical realism. Something's just not there. I'm not sure what it is, or if this even makes sense, but I realized it about a quarter of the way through, and that feeling just lingered the rest of the time. I would say maybe I need to reread it in the future, but who knows if I will. The subject matter of slavery is already so triggering for me, but with the rest of the triggering content I know I won't pick it up again for, mm, maybe three years minimum. Not to say that the content is explicit or overt, that's just how triggers are, in general.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Racism, Torture, Infidelity, Confinement, Miscarriage, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Hate crime, Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Rape, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Slavery, Child death, Grief, Violence, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Dementia, War, Misogyny, Animal death, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Infertility, Murder, Abortion, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Xenophobia, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Medical content, Terminal illness, and Stalking

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

sofipitch'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? It's complicated

4.5

This book was really good but it can be slow to start. Especially since each chapter alters between past and present it can be frustrating when a chapter ends on a cliffhanger only to know you won't get it resolved immediately. It also takes a while for all the pieces to come together but when they do it's really satisfying and makes a lot of sense. The medical content is also really well done, I looked up if the author has a medical background and it doesn't seem like it, so she did her research and did an awesome job, bc as a healing women Rue wouldn't know the modern names of diseases but the way she describes them you always know what she's talking about.

I would really recommend this book but do check the trigger warnings, if some topics are an issue for you.


(Just my soapbox but I think this book is very firmly magical realism, not fantasy, and honestly that a book can't be both in the fantasy and magical realism genres, they both have magic but the fundamentals contradict one another.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Racism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Religious bigotry, Rape, Abortion, Confinement, Drug use, Infidelity, Slavery, War, and Racial slurs

Minor: Cancer, Addiction, Blood, and Dementia

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

solenodon's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful tense slow-paced

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

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Hate crime, Infertility, Medical content, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Minor: Alcoholism and Vomit

msbarnesela's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Grief

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, and Confinement

Minor: Abortion, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Infidelity

bgoodbookclub's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

2.5

This book surely is a slow burn with lots of character development. The story flips back and forth from slaverytime and post-Civil War time, with powerful characters and deep secrets throughout all of the characters. The community is interwoven so deeply that you never know how interlaced they can be. I rated this lower because I had a hard time getting into the story, I was hoping it would pull through for me but I still felt like I was waiting for more that I never got.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Torture, Slavery, and Rape

Minor: Racism, Sexual assault, and Alcoholism

maddiebusick's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Beautiful writing and a compelling story with symbolism that doesn't feel forced. Sometimes it felt just a bit slower than I would have liked it to be to build up suspense, but overall a great book. No character is pure good or pure evil, and it gives a bit of insight into what it would be like to live around the time before, during, and after the Civil War on a plantation.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Violence, Alcoholism, Blood, Child death, Death, Grief, Hate crime, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, and Torture