Reviews tagging 'Death'

Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott

93 reviews

ebb_and_flow's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Self harm, Genocide, Antisemitism, Violence, Death, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, and Suicidal thoughts

brianna_moye's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Blood, Violence, Genocide, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Gore, and Alcoholism

blewballoon's review against another edition

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? Yes

3.5

This was a very creative blend of folk tales, the modern world, an exploration of generational trauma, and a story of family and magic. In some ways it reminded me of The City We Became, but with more subtlety with its messaging (despite still not being very subtle). The characters were flawed and interesting, they felt like people with layers, and it left me wanting to know more. This book is more grim than I originally anticipated, but it felt earned, and there was always an element of hope. Not sure how I feel about

Bellatine's romance with a gravestone statue she brought to life by accident.

I listened to this on audiobook and the narration was very good, I was impressed by how distinct some of the voices were. I do not think I would have liked the book as much without the audio, I think I would have gotten more frustrated with the characters and found them more flat.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Antisemitism, Vomit, Death, Racism, Body horror, Gore, Xenophobia, and Violence

sparklefarm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

4.5

This was tremendous.

If you had said, "Hey Hannah, read this folk tale about generational trauma," I don't know that I would have picked up Thistlefoot enthusiastically. But this was such a good read.

I think some people would describe this prose as flowery or purple or excessive, but for me it worked well within this folk tale setting, especially within an audiobook. 

This was wonderful and I think will appeal to fans of Alix E. Harrow. I can't wait to read more from Nethercott.

Pay attention to the content warnings because it is a book about trauma, and dips occasionally into horror territory as well.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Animal death, and Child death

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Violence, and Body horror

achay91's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Death, Religious bigotry, Child death, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Cursing, Genocide, Alcohol, and Stalking

Minor: Suicide

cameronreads's review against another edition

5.0

This book somehow surpassed every expectation I had of it. It was simply wonderful; from the characters to the storytelling to the powerful and important messages it contained. I’d recommend this to anyone and everyone. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Antisemitism, Death, Self harm, Gore, Grief, Child death, Genocide, Religious bigotry, and Violence

Moderate: Gun violence

Minor: Suicide and War

fee_nix05's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny informative mysterious 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

4.5

The proze is so good! I also learned a lot about russian-jewish history, without it ever feeling like reading a textbook. The main characters felt so real, and the latter portion made me cry because of how beautifully it was written. The only thing keeping me from rating this a 5-star read is that it felt a little long sometimes.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, War, and Antisemitism

readingrainbowroad's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

Loved this book from cover to cover!!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: War, Genocide, Child death, Antisemitism, Abandonment, and Death

Minor: Alcoholism

lovetoread18's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad slow-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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Child death, Genocide, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, and Death

macaronoui's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad 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? N/A

5.0

What an incredible debut.

Firstly this book might be triggering for Ashkenazi Jews, Jews in general or people who have experienced generational trauma.

It is a beautiful book, but take your time with it as it is devastating.

The story is written absolutely beautifully and alternates Isaac, his sister Bellatine and Thistlefoot the walking house.

Their parents had a traveling puppet show about the fool who drowns.

A mysterious man, the longshadow man is hunting Thistlefoot.

The story weaves beautifully between fiction, historical fiction, magical realism and fantasy. I annotated so much in this book, here are two of my faves.

I highly highly recommend this book. I expect it will stay with me for a long time. 

“You can watch something and walk away after like you were never there. Witness is a testimony." He looked up. "With a witness, it could be like we never died."

“What is a house but a container for a life? What is a life but a container for a story? When a container is broken, it does not destroy the contents. It sets them free.”

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Death, and Violence