Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson

42 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

morgiah's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Body horror, and Blood

Moderate: Rape and Religious bigotry

eve_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Overall Thoughts:
⁕ If you like your dystopian fantasy novels with a heaping dose of sheer terror, this is the book for you! I can best describe it as The Handmaid’s Tale meets American Horror Story.

⁕ I could not get enough of Immanuel’s parents! The vignettes of their past and the snippets from their letters to one another are gripping. Immanuel and Ezra however…. I found the the development of their relationship unbelievable😅

⁕ I wish the world-building was a bit more explicit. It felt a bit cookie-cutter.

To read my full review, visit: https://evereads.online
For regular book-related content, follow my Instagram account: @eve_reads  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Sexual assault, Animal death, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, and Violence

abookishwasp's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

This book... OH MY GOD it was so good! I don't have much to say about is as it's usually easier for me to list the negative things about a book rather than the positive, meaning that i loved it!!! I would describe it as a combo between "The Crucible", the movie "The Village" and the tv show "Salem". All very good things in my book, which also explains why i loved this so much. I rooted for the MC Immanuelle and also for Ezra and this book just gave me so many emotions!!! Fear, and anticipation and stress and anger and anxiety (another sign of how much i liked it). The book also tackled some modern day societal issues like racism and sexism and it was interesting to see how the author incorporated these in a world that doesn't exist, though it does mirror puritanical societies that used to exist a looong long time ago. I also found the religion interesting. If you like witchy stuff then i STRONGLY RECOMMEND THIS! (Also i would not put this in the YA category)


*An e-copy of this book was kindly provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, and Body horror

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

powkaye's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

A young woman who is sort of an outcast because of her mother’s past learns she has supernatural powers but she lives in a purist community where women have few rights. This story is about how she comes into her power to disrupt the status quo.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, and 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

markedwithanm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Body horror, Gore, and Blood

readwithsuzanna's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Gore, Body horror, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, and Child death

Moderate: Animal death, Misogyny, Sexism, Self harm, Racism, and Rape