Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

53 reviews

hannahrogers's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, Violence, Racism, Torture, Suicide, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Murder, Lesbophobia, Hate crime, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Abortion, Deadnaming, Transphobia, Hate crime, Gaslighting, and Miscarriage

logan_readss's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I received this book as an arc and I loved reading it so much. A story of feminism written by a women for women, showing us a cast of diverse women fighting for themselves, their sisters, their daughters, their mothers and anyone else who matters deeply to them.

Set in 1800s America, during the fight for women's suffrage, three witch sisters come together to cause trouble and help women across the country while uncovering the lost magic of their ancestors, stolen from them by men.

This book kept me gripped and entertained all the way through, I never wanted to put it down. There was moments that made me cry, feeling the deep relationship and sisterhood between the sisters of Avalon. Cannot recommend it enough 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing

Moderate: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Murder, Outing, Pregnancy, and Police brutality

Minor: Lesbophobia, Transphobia, Sexual content, Abortion, and Animal cruelty

mo345's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Abortion, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Slavery, and Violence

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

odonate's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Outing, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, and Torture

ka_ke's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful inspiring mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

Once and Future Witches is a fine book. Best for people who prefer books with minimal world building or character growth. The cast of characters is diverse which is one of the best things there is to say. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Abortion, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Outing

mothman19's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Sexism, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Physical abuse, Violence, Death, Murder, and Suicide

Moderate: Confinement, Grief, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Slavery, and Torture

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Vomit

elzibub's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Misogyny, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Torture, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Abandonment and Abortion

prettyfunctional's review against another edition

hopeful mysterious

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Police brutality

torrentsofhayl's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Abandonment, Child abuse, Violence, Transphobia, Torture, Pregnancy, Outing, Murder, Death of parent, Blood, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Abortion, Police brutality, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Racism, Misogyny, and Vomit

thereadinghammock's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.5

This book was a much longer read than I usually get my hands on, but it needed every moment of the story to breathe and share so many stories within it. As with most witching, the story follows the sisters Eastwood: Beatrice Belladonna, Agnes Amaranth, and James Juniper and their love, loss, and reconnection with each other and the lost ways of their witching ancestors. Set against the backdrop of a women's suffrage movement turned suffrage and witching campaign, these sisters work together to unlock the lost ways of Avalon and heal old hurts between them.

The diverse cast of supporting characters is just as fascinating, and so well written. I loved their interactions with each other, the story itself, the variety of their witching, and the overall sisterhood among them. And most of the protagonist's supporting male cast are also early adopters of their own brand of feminism and I was LIVING for it!

And what a delightfully insidious villain Gideon Hill turned out to be. His character continued to evolve and loom throughout most of the novel and his intentions were fascinating to guess and watch change as the sisters Eastwood work to bring witching back to the world.

Despite the length, I never felt like the book got too bogged down with one story over another. No one character was more important than the next, and they all played an important role in the overall telling of this story. I did love the subtle rephrasing and retelling of so many classic nursery rhymes, folk tales, and witch tales into more feminist and generally less evil stories. It was so much fun to read and see how the stories or rhymes changed when the witch wasn't always evil for evil's sake!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Lesbophobia, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Torture, Police brutality, Misogyny, and Confinement

Minor: Domestic abuse, Outing, and Violence