Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Wake, Siren: Ovid Resung by Nina MacLaughlin

10 reviews

mariakureads's review

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.75

This was an mixed bag of emotions for me.
MacLaughlin writes these from the pov of the female characters based on Ovid's Metamorphosis and gives them voices where some women had none, expands on the the few that did, and fleshes out the characterizations of them all.

Each story is vibrant in it's own way, each with a different tone and voice that gives each women a distinct voice and way of telling her story. So much emotion comes through and in such a range too!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child death, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, and Rape

edevoe8891's review

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, War, Child death, Infidelity, Rape, Gaslighting, and Incest

gingerale06's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Child death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Blood, Child abuse, Gore, Body horror, Grief, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Sexual content

emilianadelauro's review

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Child death, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Incest, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Body shaming, Blood, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexism, and Violence

courtneyfalling's review

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Dark feminist retellings of the myths in Ovid's Metamorphoses? Conceptually I'm so here. But this collection was... heavy and very viscerally in the characters' voices and experiences. I have to wonder who the intended audience is because people who pick up feminist Ovid retellings probably already agree that these stories are about gendered violence and likely have experienced gendered violence themselves, but this collection feels very sharp and potentially retraumatizing to that exact set of people. Not all the time, and not in an intentionally dangerous way, but still... this was pretty hard to get through at points and I had to wonder to what end. 

Edit a few weeks later: the more I think about it, the more that the equation of sexual violence and vulnerability to cis womanhood in this book feels gender essentialist and slipping into TERFdom...

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Domestic abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Stalking, Suicide, and Torture

Minor: Animal death, Cannibalism, Dysphoria, Lesbophobia, Pregnancy, and Transphobia

theinvulnerabletide's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Rape, Pedophilia, Incest, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Child abuse, Pregnancy, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Homophobia

ellajoy12's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Violence

hunkydorky's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Incest, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Violence

kirstenm's review

challenging dark medium-paced

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

4.5

I liked how this book showed womens anger and their sides of stories we know that are so often dominated by male voices. I did enjoy this book but as its retelling of greek/roman myths it comes with a lot of content warnings. I have added some but I'd look them up before reading to be sure this is a book you want to get into 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Incest, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, and Stalking

alambnamedpam's review

adventurous emotional tense

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, Child death, Death, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexism, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Infidelity, Incest, Grief, Excrement, Domestic abuse, and Adult/minor relationship