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contemporarymeepsie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Initially I struggled to get in to this book. I think I didn't associate with Maren as a character and I found the writing style hard to get in to. Regularly having to reread sentences to understand their meaning. But once Ursa was introduced, I found a character I liked and gradually as the story picked up pace I lost myself in the plot. The friendship that blossomed between Ursa and Maren is so well described and thoroughly genuine that I couldn't not love this book by the end. Every choice each character makes feels real and believable for that character. Every character had a realistic fully formed personality. Kudos to Kiran Millwood Hargrave for her first adult novel as I believe it was a success, and although I struggled to begin with, I do believe it was worth pushing through and I'm excited to see what she writes next. This is a book I have already recommended to a friend.
Graphic: Death and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Rape, Racial slurs, Miscarriage, and Racism
Minor: Pregnancy, Blood, and Torture
quiet_vulture's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture
hannahri0's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Grief, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Misogyny, Murder, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Torture, Racial slurs, Violence, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Hate crime, Racism, and Sexual assault
Minor: Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Miscarriage
vouija's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Grief, Racism, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Death, and Emotional abuse
plantgal_jill's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts
jcinf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
That said, I did enjoy this book for the most part.
I’ll have to dock some points for the audiobook tax — aka: the times I forget to pay attention and listen. So take my star rating with a grain of salt.
I enjoyed reading about this time period and this particular historical event and culture. It’s something I knew nothing about, so I like that I got to be introduced to a new topic.
I also didn’t realize this would be LGBTQ+ because I started listening to this book on Libby and didn’t start tracking on StoryGraph until a little later. So that was a pleasant surprise for me when I found out it was queer.
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, and Sexual violence
Minor: Alcohol
ruthmoog's review against another edition
3.25
Having said that, all the action happens in the last few chapters. After the storm at the beginning - the very interesting premise! - it plods slowly through the life of a timid protagonist... Over half way through the book I felt like nothing had happened.
But given that it's based on actual events in Vardø ther 's only so much you can do to stay true to the story of a village devastated by a storm.
edit: after reading other reviews I would note, I had no idea this was based on true events or about witch trials when I started, I only knew about the storm leaving a village of women be ind
Graphic: Misogyny, Death, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Racial slurs, and Murder
Moderate: Colonisation and Genocide
Minor: Lesbophobia, Pregnancy, and Racism
Drowningklsreads's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.75
This book is sad but the subjects are treated with immense tenderness. Will definitely be reading more of Kiran Millwood Hargrave.
Graphic: Racism, Rape, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Blood, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Infertility, Pregnancy, and Vomit
Minor: Animal death and Colonisation
eleanora's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Grief, Miscarriage, Racism, Death, Racial slurs, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, and Physical abuse
Minor: Alcohol, Animal death, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, and Pregnancy
flissrobyn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Violence, Sexual assault, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Miscarriage and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Death