Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson

10 reviews

peachani's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Misogyny, and Violence

Moderate: Medical trauma, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Animal death

Minor: Racism, Chronic illness, Medical content, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gore, Torture, Toxic relationship, Classism, Body horror, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pedophilia, and Sexual harassment

mollyobrien's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

Alexis Henderson may be one of my new favorite authors. Her writing is immersive and atmospheric. Her world-building is lovely - it leaves the reader informed but wanting for more details (different book but I would love to know more about the world of House of Hunger). She also deftly handles tough topics like sexism, classism, racism, religious trauma, etc. I can’t wait for whatever she writes next!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, and Sexism

Moderate: Medical trauma, Pedophilia, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Pregnancy

This didn’t really have a tag but there is a relatively graphic scene where a young girl dies in childbirth. The book also starts with a scene where a young girl dies in childbirth but it is not graphic.

hunkydory's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• 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: Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, and Alcohol

Minor: Death of parent, Animal death, Confinement, and Fire/Fire injury

laurenleigh's review against another edition

dark reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

I found myself rather bewitched by this book. I often had a hard time following the plot, but something about the prose style and the audiobook narration kept me listening. I originally read this for a “witches” reading challenge prompt, but then I realized it was a better fit for the “social horror genre” prompt. (Get Out is largely responsible I think for the renewed interest in this genre.) Henderson makes an important point with her plot. Doing nothing to challenge a status quo that actively harms part of a community is also harm itself. It’s easy to be complicit, which is partly why systems of oppression are upheld. I was interested in how the ending played out and how our protagonist didn’t pick one side, recognizing that both had their flaws. Love the spooky vibes, love the commentary even more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Gore, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy

Minor: Sexual assault and Violence

des9120's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Death, Violence, War, and Sexism

Moderate: Pedophilia and Sexual assault

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

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.

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

mandkips's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Medical trauma, Death, Racism, Sexism, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Animal death, Violence, Rape, Pedophilia, Infidelity, and Gore