Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson

66 reviews

notastate's review against another edition

dark 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

3.75

Oof this book had me HOOKED. The tags/themes that are listed on here are very accurate- this book is not for the faint of heart. While there were times when it was confusing, I enjoyed reading this!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Death

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Pedophilia, Murder, Grief, Gore, Death of parent, Blood, Body horror, and Adult/minor relationship

spacerkip's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-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

5.0

Loved every second of this. The descriptions were amazing, and I loved the exploration of religious/spiritual trauma as horror. Everything was so tangible and visceral, and it was so easy to visualize as I read. Who would have predicted I could be such a fan of horror, not me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Blood, Gore, Medical trauma, and Misogyny

Moderate: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, and Body horror

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Torture, Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, and Homophobia

_fallinglight_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, and Torture

Moderate: Self harm

kaseybereading's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Religious bigotry, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Death, Medical trauma, Rape, and Adult/minor relationship

melsmagicalreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Sexism, Misogyny, Gore, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Death, and Death of parent

This book contains multiple traumatic childbirth scenes.

horizonous's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death, and Medical content

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Domestic abuse, Lesbophobia, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexism, and Sexual violence

◦ Death = incl. child, grandparent, parent and maternal
◦ Medical content = Child birth
◦ Sexual violence = Statutory rape

axelstudies's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Gore, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Violence, and Gun violence

haileybones's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.25

Year of the Witching is a super fun read that perfectly balances mystery, suspense, and horror. An orphaned teenage girl, raised in a conservative patriarchal society by her maternal grandparents, delves into the history of her rebellious mother and uncovers a dark, magical secret that sends her sleuthing across her world alongside a very cute rich boy. But be warned: this book touches on a lot of sensitive topics in rapid succession, so keep an eye on trigger warnings if necessary.

The themes are in your face: religious fundamentalism, feminism, patriarchy, and duality with a sprinkling of personal and racial identity as a mixed race, adopted individual. There are obvious parallels with the FLDS Mormon cult and the book is littered with Biblical references. Despite all that ground covered, it rarely became too preachy for my taste.

That is a testament to the world building, which felt very organic. Lore can be difficult, especially if your fantasy religion is already centuries old when the story starts. Although it feels expansive, details are given at a manageable pace as Immanuelle and the reader learn together. Details on the very first page pay off in reveals and a second reading would uncover dozens of missed breadcrumbs - it's so well done.

Immanuelle herself is a strong lead, but her character arc isn't one of substantial growth. From the start she's smart, kind, and a good friend (if a bit of an outcast). She has strong moral convictions with the courage to back them up. That never changes and it got a little boring for me towards the end. Ezra, the romantic lead, suffers from similar virtuous characterization that becomes more wooden and boring as the story goes on.

The pacing was overall excellent for building tension, but the last quarter of the book fell flat. I think the author was trying to keep the reader guessing, but the "twists" in this section were mostly tedious double-crosses, discussed at length by the characters beforehand. The climax and final battle were predictable and heavily foreshadowed. Because Immanuelle is characterized as unfailingly good, there isn't much tension because you know she'll discover a solution to protect the most important characters.

This proves true

and leads into a cheesy epilogue I could have done without.

I'd recommend it as a vacation read to someone who likes witchy fantasy, especially in the autumn. Something light you can get through in a weekend, entertaining, but not life changing. I look forward to what Alexis Henderson writes next.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Gore, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Lesbophobia

literatigeek's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Religious bigotry, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Grief, Racism, Torture, and Physical abuse

Minor: Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual assault

okays1331's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

Blood begets blood. 

This cult-like town feels terribly real. I could see and feel every detail. The men in power have absolute control over right and wrong, and women have no voice or protection except as an extension of the power of the men. They follow a rigid faith with their Prophet wielding ultimate authority. Sins as determined by the church are immediately met with violence from a slap to exile to burning alive. Everyone is kept in line not just from the fear and devotion to the Prophet and his Apostles but also from fear of the witches and the sin that await them in the woods. 

I don't read a lot of horror, but I am fairly certain fans of the genre will get everything they want from this book. The human horrors of poverty, cruelty, and helplessness to the curses of blood, madness, darkness, and slaughter. Emanuel is such a compelling protagonist because in the midst of it all, she is not purely on the side of virtue or sin. She believes in her faith, but she also carries a strong sense of right and wrong and when the church crosses the line, she knows she must act. Her bravery is not automatic and grows naturally instead from her strong convictions. 

Lots of TW: abuse, gore, rape, pedophilia, cult, body horror, confinement, indoctrination

Slight spoilers:

The most interesting part about the way this story was written was that the right side was not immediately apparent. Clearly the church abused its power to a huge degree, but the witches in the woods are not on the side of right. We see the author set up a choice between the two evils

seeming to force Emanuel to choose between the two of them only to have her instead choose a third option and fight against both the witches of the wood and the church's systems of oppression.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, Death, and Child death

Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, and Pedophilia