Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

These Witches Don't Burn by Isabel Sterling

7 reviews

annorabrady's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

This book went in many different directions. I almost DNF'd at the beginning then the story started to pick up. And I got into it until I got blindsided by

the parental death. As someone who unexpectedly lost their mom in the last year, that definitely threw me back into the trauma

. 

Overall, I'm not sure how I feel about the story. I gave it a 3 because it was entertaining enough. But this isn't one I am going to revisit. 

If you have emotional triggers, be aware and proceed with caution. This hits on a lot of things that could get people. I've done my best to list the ones I can remember. 

As an aside, this book is not diverse. Beyond the romance and the ex, there's one closeted character who gets little page time and one gay character who gets an even smaller part. Then there's nothing. Everyone is white. If there aren't white characters, they're not described. In real life, Salem has close to 18% of their population identifying as latine and nearly 4% as black. Surely there could have been a friend, family member, or other recurring character who wasn't white. 

After giving myself time to think about it, I genuinely don't understand the purpose of killing off her father beyond shock value. It didn't add anything to the story. She learned nothing new – he died while trying to give her a clue but didn't actually say anything – and her actions didn't change.

It also would have made more sense narratively if he hasn't died, especially in terms of Victoria being left alone after getting her magic back. 

Hannah would have saved Victoria regardless of her father's death. She was just as invested in the identity of the witch hunter before and after his death. And his death didn't add to any of her struggles or character development. He just died. And then he had a funeral. And she said she was upset about it.

Losing a parent changes you. Especially if it's a parent you have a good relationship with. It fundamentally changes so much of your life, your beliefs, and your priorities. And I saw none of that reflected in what Hannah did at the end of the book. Hannah was still the same character, she was just down a parent.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Grief, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, and Toxic friendship

ashleylorraine's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Physical abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Murder

Minor: Lesbophobia

sanne_vds's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful lighthearted sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Oh my goodness, I loved this!! This book held me in suspense for almost the entire story. I had so many theories and nearly none came true which is amazing to me. 
Going to buy the sequel right now! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Murder

emilyrose_isreading's review

emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

I surprised myself a bit by how much I enjoyed this book however it helped that I felt that it was almost adjacent to a cozy mystery, with Hannah working in a witch themed shop for tourists and becoming an amateur sleuth almost in order to figure out what was going on. The romance was sweet and felt very realistic (some LGBTQIA+ books make same sex couples 'normal', which would be nice irl but the mild homophobia and having characters in the closet brings the story to life despite the magical elements).
The witchcraft was also worked in nicely in a way that still made the book feel realistic, witches can't do everything with their magic and because they're hiding in plain sight they were just like normal people but with a secret.
This is a novel for teens so they characters felt a bit young at times however I enjoyed it enough that I want to read the sequel and would suggest this to other young adults who don't mind younger characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Grief

Minor: Homophobia, Blood, Physical abuse, Lesbophobia, and Biphobia

moonstruck_next_friday's review

adventurous dark emotional lighthearted 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? Yes

4.0

A good mix of spooky themes and lesbian fluff. It’s so much fun to hate Veronica and root for Morgan. There’s a couple good twists at the end too. Even though “These Witches Don’t Burn” came out before the prequel “This Spell Can’t Last”, I highly recommend reading the prequel first it’ll give great context for the characters actions and decision making. Can’t wait to read the sequel!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Death of parent, Grief, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Medical content, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Lesbophobia, Murder, Sexual violence, and Torture

neah's review

adventurous dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.5

It was really slow in the beginning and then really fast at the end. I kept forgetting about characters. There are no POC at all. It got unnecessarily violent at the end. I did not like it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Death of parent, Violence, Physical abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Cursing and Alcohol

lucyselim's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I really don't know how to feel about this book. On the one hand I love the representation and the story is pretty decent, if somewhat predictable, but I also just felt something lacking. However, I know I would have loved this book more when I was a teenager. To conclude, whilst realising I am not in the target audience, I am still a little disappointed with this book overall, but I love the casual gayness.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Biphobia, Domestic abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Torture