Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Conjure Women by Afia Atakora

8 reviews

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.

---

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

jojo_'s review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Medical content, Miscarriage, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Violence, Abortion, Racial slurs, Blood, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal death, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Addiction, Confinement, War, Misogyny, Death of parent, and Infidelity

Minor: Incest, Fire/Fire injury, and Suicide

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

---

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

taviarz's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I think I just expected something different when I went into it and to see actual magic. I also didn’t understand the point of putting May’s chapters in first person. There were also some sloppy points during the end. The book was emotional and complex but in the end I think it just didn’t hit for me.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Abortion, Alcohol, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Violence, Gore, and Medical content

Moderate: War

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.)

---

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

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

---

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

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

---

Content Warnings

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

alayamorning's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Grief, Hate crime, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Torture