Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott

32 reviews

tamara_joy's review

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Self harm and Sexual content

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, and Blood

azureumbreon's review

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious 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: War, Child death, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, and Genocide

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Religious bigotry

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

ebrooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Genocide, Violence, War, and Xenophobia

Minor: Religious bigotry

readwriterobyn's review

dark emotional slow-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

𝙏𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨: self-harm, suicide, death, PTSD, cross-generational trauma, genocide, infant/child harm

This book crushed me in all the right ways. I rarely, rarely read stories that are sad or heart-wrenching, as I prefer my fiction to be upbeat or dark (but not sad). This one takes the cake for me. I was sobbing the last few chapters–enough that it made my fiancé determined to read the book after me. He knows I don’t cry at books. But this one got me. 

The story crossed generations, continents, and tragedies as it unfolded, mixing Jewish folklore with a modern urban setting. My favorite characters were the house (with the titular name of Thislefoot) and Winnie (no spoilers, but she’s a clear winner). Thistlefoot’s perspective was fascinating: every story it told us could be the truth, an utter fabrication, or somewhere between the two. And it blatantly tells you that multiple times over the course of the story. I haven’t read anything like it.

It was also a unique study in relationships–mothers/daughters, siblings, crowd/performers, townspeople/outsiders, civilians/military, past/present, self/others, ghosts/living, alive/inanimate (and what it means to be “alive”). There was so much packed within this book, that it’s hard to imagine it was a debut book.

Additionally, now that it’s sat on my shelf for a few weeks, I find myself thinking about the message of the story a lot. There’s a lot to say, but I loved (and believe in) the idea that history and its traumas transcend time, space, and distance to be heard; they demand to not be forgotten. 

My only quibble about the story was that it was very thick, and I had to be entirely focused to read it. Otherwise, I felt I couldn’t absorb all of the information and themes presented. As a bedtime reader, this was challenging and it took me longer to read than other novels of similar size.

Overall, if you like descriptive writing with metaphors and symbolism, multiple POVs, emotional damage, cross-generational trauma and the stories that come with them, all with a dash of magic, then this is a must-read for you. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Antisemitism, Child death, Death, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, and Murder

nisaak's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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? No

4.25

This book went places I totally didn't expect it to go. If you pick it up because it's a Baba Yaga story, you won't be disappointed. But it's more than that. It's the story of her descendants, who inherit her house. Bellatine and Isaac are magical in their own right. I found it both very challenging and very rewarding to read. At times I thought, "Where is this going?" but I was never bored. I look forward to reading more by Nethercott.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Violence, Genocide, Antisemitism, Child death, Religious bigotry, and Murder

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

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

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Cursing, Genocide, Alcohol, and Stalking

Minor: Suicide

cameronreads's review

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. 

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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

lovetoread18's review

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

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Content Warnings

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