Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson

58 reviews

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

lisaeliza'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Animal death

Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, Pregnancy, Child death, Xenophobia, Violence, and Gun violence

princess_azula's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Torture, and Violence

sm_moon's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Lesbophobia, Sexism, Infertility, and Gore

tinana's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Torture

sarahsbooklife's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Xenophobia, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Rape

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.