Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson

137 reviews

jht5791's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Blood, and Gore

Moderate: Child death, Child abuse, and Pregnancy

steph_thelibrarian's review against another edition

dark 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? No

3.75

I loved this book! Honestly could not put it down! It is like The VVitch meets The Village. I love books with this type of puritanical setting, weird church, magic, corruption... it's good stuff. I thought the author did a great job describing some horrific and brutal scenes, and developing the characters. I really like Immanuelle as a lead character - very strong, smart, and honorable. 

<spolier>My main beef with this story comes at the point when Immanuelle has to defeat the witches. It felt unrealistic (LOL) to me that she just had to reach into the depths of her person and believe that she could take back the curses in order to save Bethel. I think I would have liked a little more development of her coming to terms, truly, with her magic/witchcraft past, and reclaiming it, remaking into her own. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, and Death

This is a horror novel. Blood is in every chapter.

Death comes at the end.

jillaay_h's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Physical abuse, Classism, Blood, Death, Misogyny, and Adult/minor relationship

agnela's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Loved this! I'm so too old for most YA these days, but this was fine, maybe except the romantic undertones. It had creepy forest, witches, old diaries, spells, biracial and queer characters, social and feminist problems. 
This was the first book ever made me sick to my stomach. 
But the ending was meh, so meh that it lost a star for me. Kind of lazy all is well let's leave it to maybe having a sequel ending. I was rooting for revenge and blood and.... I did not get it. Idk if it was rushed or did the author felt bored by her story at this point but meh. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Classism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexism, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Physical abuse

blueyogi's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Death, Sexism, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Blood, Colonisation, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, and Death of parent

Minor: Rape, Pedophilia, Blood, and Gun violence

ahopper7's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Pregnancy and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Confinement

book_voyager's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

3.5

It’s been a while since I was this into reading (and finishing) a book. This one clearly called me home.

In general, the plot itself is not super original but the story is quite well written. The setting is interesting, and the world-building has been successful.

Although I do wish witches and witchcraft weren’t always the evil side. Even if the church in this book was depicted as faulty (and somewhat evil), witches still got the worst rep.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Confinement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, and Physical abuse

Moderate: War and Torture

aseel_reads's review against another edition

challenging 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

3.0

I think this had potential but I didn't realise it wasn't a standalone and now I can barely remember what happened, which shows how forgetable it is 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Murder, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Violence, Physical abuse, and Rape

squisheebee_'s review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Classism, Religious bigotry, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Sexism, Abandonment, Misogyny, Blood, and Colonisation

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Sexual harassment, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Physical abuse

Minor: Suicide and Genocide

brandywinebooks's review against another edition

There was a lot to do with women’s bodies and trauma that I just couldn’t get passed. Every time I put it down I would dread picking it back up. The book has great writing and is scary, but the topic was just too triggering for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Blood, and Domestic abuse