Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

112 reviews

schnaucl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? No

5.0

I really like this book.  It's very smartly written with interesting characters and clever tweaks to history and historical figures.  

It's a book that's full of women's rage and the subtle ways they have to hide their power to pass things down through the generations and the never ending cycle of women gaining a measure of power only to have it nearly all taken from them.  But still they endure. 

I appreciated the effort to bring in words and ways from other cultures, both contemporary and historical, and the focus on the fact that progress will eventually cause a reactionary backlash which will fall hardest on the most marginalized.

While I really liked the book, the ending didn't quite work for me.  Well, it works on a thematic level, just not a practical level. I can't think of any reason Gideon would choose to take over the body of a female child.   He is keenly aware of how easy to is to accuse a woman of witchcraft and see her burn, whether she's a witch or not.  I can't see himself putting himself in that position, even temporarily.   Surely he's found some method over the long years of gaining procuring what he needs from the next man (or potential men) whose body he intends to occupy.   I think Eve had to be in some kind of proximity and I'd think it a big gamble that once she was rescued she'd be brought to her mother's burning rather than safely whisked out of the city.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Death, Grief, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Death of parent, Police brutality, and Violence

Minor: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Physical abuse, Torture, and Abortion

sneakysnam's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Police brutality, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Lesbophobia, Racial slurs, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Abortion, Child abuse, Misogyny, Colonisation, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Racism, Transphobia, Grief, and Kidnapping

Minor: Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death of parent, and Grief

immovabletype's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Sexism, Torture, Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Racism, Death, Death of parent, Hate crime, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Moderate: Abortion, Domestic abuse, Police brutality, and Murder

Minor: Transphobia

lilithreads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Death of parent, Abortion, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Violence, Blood, Confinement, Animal death, and Torture

Minor: Kidnapping, Transphobia, Grief, Sexism, and Sexual harassment

julianimal's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Racism, Torture, Cursing, Homophobia, and Murder

Minor: Abortion and Blood

escapismforlife's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Torture, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Confinement, Death, and Sexism

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Abandonment, Classism, and Racism

_teoeo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

This was a fantastic book!! I enjoyed it soooo much. Don't know how I feel about retelling fairy tales but in this book it is well done. Couldn't decide if I should rate it 4,75 or 5 stars but I loved it so much it just HAS to be 5 stars.
Please look at the trigger and content  warnings before reading it, because it really was a lot sometimes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Animal death, Classism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Medical trauma, Sexism, and Suicide

Moderate: Torture, Transphobia, and Kidnapping

Minor: Animal cruelty, Slavery, and Animal death

imds's review against another edition

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Child abuse, Grief, Pregnancy, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Abortion, Homophobia, and Transphobia

gmalmquist's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Homophobia, Racism, Misogyny, Abortion, and Animal cruelty

martamae77's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Pregnancy, Sexism, Misogyny, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racism, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Child abuse

Minor: Torture, Sexual assault, and Death of parent