Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

White Magic by Elissa Washuta

22 reviews

virginia_vex's review

challenging dark sad medium-paced

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Colonisation, Physical abuse, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Rape, and Toxic relationship

raesengele's review

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Rape, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Stalking and Suicidal thoughts

monstrouscosmos's review against another edition

the early detailed descriptions of

rape and the aftermath

were especially difficult, but there are a lot of TWs even in the 5% I made I through. in reading other reviews that keeps up for the whole of the book, which I can't keep up with. the writing style is very much my vibe, and the author has a lot of interesting things to say! it's just too emotionally difficult of a text for me right now. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Alcoholism, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Panic attacks/disorders, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Medical content, Sexual violence, Addiction, Medical trauma, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Colonisation, Racism, and Stalking

katharina90's review against another edition

Didn't work for me. Couldn't connect with the writing and tone. The structure felt disjointed and hard to follow. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Colonisation, and Cultural appropriation

zombiezami's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Rape, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Cultural appropriation and Colonisation

potatoaficionado's review against another edition

challenging slow-paced

3.0

Not for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

notallbooks_mp's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

Don’t listen to the audiobook. Read the words, the narrator is a terrible mismatch to the subject matter. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Colonisation, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Rape, Racism, Alcoholism, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Self harm, and Gaslighting

sarahbythebook's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

I don't think I've ever enjoyed being as thoroughly confused as this book made me. White Magic is such a strange mix of history, memoir, and spiritualism that it's hard to nail down a review of this book. The sheer personal nature of this highlights, in my opinion, the bravery of the author. Elissa Washuta holds no punches when discussing the men she's dated and the harm they caused her. She makes no apologies for pointing out the terrible effects of white colonization of indigenous lands. White Magic is gut wrenchingly raw throughout and ends with the possibility of growth and happiness. 

I had no idea what to expect going into this book, and to be completely honest, the first third frustrated me so much. Part of that is due to the fact that the audiobook lacks the visual cues that would have been helpful in getting through this book (hello repeating epigraphs, I'm looking at you). The other part, though, is that I am accustomed to linear narrative structures even in my nonfiction reads. However, I listened to what Melissa Blair had to say about native non-linear storytelling, and decided to go with it instead of wanting it to conform to what my understanding of a story should be. By the end, I have to say that I appreciate the constant wrapping around a center point, and in her own way, Washuta does give readers a beginning and an end; the middle is what seems to spin. 

This is not an easy read, and the way that sexual assault and rape are spoken of is very cavalier. Be careful of your own triggers as Washuta's life has given her many, and she lays them out in these pages. If you feel you're in a place where you can read about traumatic events of another person, I would recommend this book for sure. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Alcoholism, and Rape

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Abandonment, Body shaming, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Eating disorder

sarahaf712's review

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Colonisation, Abandonment, Stalking, and Grief

Minor: Genocide and Hate crime

oinkoink's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective

Not going to give this a star rating because I don’t think I can give it a fair review. I don’t recommend listening to this as audio, I was a bit lost with the disjointed nature of the writing. Or if you do, go into it knowing that White Magic is more so a compilation of essays than it is a plot with beginning/middle/end. There were also certain dialogues & imagery that would’ve been better on paper. So if reading the physical book is accessible to you, I suggest that over the audio (even though the audio narrator is a good one).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Sexual content