Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson

7 reviews

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.

moodreadererin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Grief, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Pregnancy, Violence, Death of parent, Bullying, Hate crime, Murder, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Rape, Vomit, and Sexual assault

mxfahrenheit's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Animal death, Pedophilia, and Rape

Minor: Vomit, Torture, and Self harm

shannonxvx's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Violence, Religious bigotry, Grief, and Blood

Moderate: Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Gore

Minor: Vomit and Confinement

elenaand's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

Eneste som trakk litt ned var at jeg syns noen ting løste seg for lett akkurat når hun skulle bort fra byen for å møte dne andre bestemoren.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Animal death, Vomit, Torture, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Pedophilia, and Misogyny

yellephant's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Racism, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Mental illness, Grief, Emotional abuse, Confinement, and Body horror

Minor: Vomit

booksthatburn's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

5.0

The Year Of The Witching ties together sexism, racism, and patriarchal religion into a dark and bloody horror story of a girl fighting to escape the constraints encircling her world since her birth. 

I have an active fear of childbirth and a general revulsion to portrayals of it. That means this won't be one I personally want to re-read, but if you don't have that aversion and you like horror, this book is fantastic (make sure to check the CWs). It takes a lot of elements common to cults and religious horror and turns them into a powerful personal story about engaging with legacy and standing against abusive systems. It never lets you forget that this is a horror novel, but there are stretches where the intensity abates to focus on quieter moments between characters. A lot of the horror is found in silence and complicity in the highly abusive system which dominates the MC's existence and guides most significant events in her life, while the high-stress moments are when she takes steps to challenge everything she's ever known. It rides a fine edge of discomfort, usually without becoming more than I could handle. 

I'm torn between wanting to re-read it and knowing that I'll have to be in a very calm space before I can handle reading it again, but horror fans should love it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Death

Moderate: Blood, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexism, Torture, and Pregnancy

Minor: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Vomit

CW for vomit, blood, racism, mass death, mutilation, non-consensual relationships, sexual assault, pedophilia, domestic abuse, childbirth, animal death, plague, torture, major character death.