Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott

60 reviews

clairelisebella's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious slow-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? Yes

4.0

Very slow start for me, but the last 80 pages or so had me entranced. There were at least two chapters that are among the best chapters I ever read. I wish all of them were that strong! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, War, Violence, Child death, Stalking, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Body horror

Minor: Vomit

tiernanhunter's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Death, Deportation, Genocide, Xenophobia, Blood, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Vomit, and War

liv_easton's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.75

This book was one I've been meaning to read for a couple of years now, and I can confidently say I'm glad I did. The payoff was incredibly satisfying, and just what I would want from a book of folklore. That being said, I genuinely did not know how I was going to finish this book for about the first half. For me, there was just too much time spent on the set-up of the book, and it felt like Nethercrott was trying to build up a suspense around the magic system of the book that wasn't quite necessary, since the magic system either went mostly unexplained to make time for the other story elements (at worst) or was meant to be shrouded in mystery as part of the folklore/storytelling core (at best, and what I believe was the actual intention. 

In either case, halfway through the story was a bit long to finally drop the curtain on what we needed to know about magic in the novel. Couple that with a POV that is often unappealing to read and also refuses to give the reader any information for a couple hundred pages (I'm looking mostly at you, Isaac, but occasionally at Bellatine), and I didn't think that this book would ever become a novel I was actually invested in. However, I'm happy to say that I was wrong on that count—once Bellatine's magic was revealed, the story and characters seemed to open up and get me invested in the story enough that I would have given the story a 3.5 stars (the last .25 coming from my affection for the type of ending the story ends up having).

The major highlight that kept me reading was every chapter the house told, as the house was by far and away the most compelling character and also the best storyteller of the lot by far. On the whole, I think this is a super worthwhile book to read, and if you need to skim some of the first 20 or so chapters to get through it, I get it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Grief, Animal death, Genocide, Antisemitism, Death, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Hate crime, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Blood

amandadevoursbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

It took me a while to work through this book. I'm glad I did, and I'm glad I read this a buddy read. 

We've got a sentient house with chicken legs, puppets, two not always likeable siblings with interesting powers, and a haunting of trauma chasing them across the world. Through this, Nethercott weaves themes of trauma, recovery, identity, memory, and community. It's beautifully written, and I will definitely do a reread to annotate say some point.

Reading it right now, as the world continues to witness genocide, is haunting and hopeful. If you're on the fence or concerned about it's size, if suggest giving it a good try. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Xenophobia, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Violence

imds's review against another edition

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gun violence, Police brutality, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Hate crime, Murder, Abandonment, Body horror, Grief, Death, Violence, and Antisemitism

vagrantheather's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

4.0

In a few ways, Thistlefoot reminds me of American Gods (Neil Gaiman). Folklore, modern Americana, a bit of hobo ethos, a clever conman. It isn't at all similar in plot, but the vibes are right.

The prose is really nice and the audiobook narrator (January LaVoy) did a lovely job. I liked the Yaga family characters, Winifred, Benji - but was not big on the adjacent bus crew. They lacked substance.

The main themes - the enduring legacy of cultures in the stories of descendents, the destructive power of fear, multigenerational trauma - were powerful.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Hate crime, Xenophobia, and Antisemitism

Minor: Death and Fire/Fire injury

rorikae's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional 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

'Thistlefoot' by GennaRose Nethercott is a wonderful folklore filled novel that touches on the power of stories, memory, and community. 
Bellatine and Isaac Yaga have been forging their own lives. Bellatine finds comfort in creating things out of wood while Isaac uses his ability to slip into other people's mannerisms to busk. They are brought back together when a package arrives, an inheritance from one of their family members. The inheritance in question, a house with legs. As the house starts to bring them together, it also has an enemy who has followed it to America and wishes to see it destroyed. The Yaga siblings will have to  band together, pull from their family's history, and believe in one another to take down this threat. 
This book is absolutely fantastic. Nethercott has created a collection of complex characters that are both easy to care for and ones that are easily frustrating in ways that feel uniquely human. This is also a story stuffed to the brim with folklore. It is told not only through the eyes of Bellatine and Isaac but also from the point of view of the house, which I absolutely loved. At the heart of this story are so many important lessons. How violence creates a lasting memory. The power and resilience of community. How stories live on. Between beautiful prose, folklore and fantastical elements, and complex characters, this is a special story. I'll definitely be checking out what Nethercott writes next because they brought something unique and magical to this story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Violence, Grief, Hate crime, Death, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Child death and Abandonment

Minor: War

thehobbitbarbie's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

If you'd told me a week before I read Thistlefoot that an Americana horror novel was going to be my new favorite book, I'd have thought you were out of your mind. But here we are, almost 450 pages later, and this book is all I've thought about since I first opened it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Antisemitism, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, War, Blood, Genocide, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Hate crime, Death, Car accident, Xenophobia, Child death, Violence, and Racial slurs

Minor: Medical content, Abandonment, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Sexual content

julianh's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Antisemitism, Death, and Genocide

emfo5777's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Violence

Minor: Grief