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stacylaughs's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
This book is so long! It could easily be three books, but a lot of it is written about the past, which all makes sense at the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Rape, and Incest
Moderate: Kidnapping, Violence, and Pregnancy
joystickchevron's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I really enjoyed the epic of the Mayfairs and as always Anne’s descriptions were exquisite, but Michael and Rowan were not compelling characters at all.
ThePetyr/Charlotte incest scene and Lasher’s birth were quite possibly the most horrifying things I’ve ever read
The
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest and Sexual content
crustbuckette's review against another edition
I didn't realize that father /daughter incest was going to be one of the main themes! Very uncomfortable... Especially considering that I was listening to the audiobook.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest
cgrays's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
The main characters are incredibly dull and their "romance" is one of the worst put to writing. The book swings between the present with the main characters, to stories going from each generation of the Mayfair witches.
The sections of the book about the Mayfair witches of the past is genuinely exciting to read, but the main plot is so unbearably awful that it can't lift this book beyond two stars for me. The ending as well, is unsatisfying for as long as we spent with the Mayfair family.
Oh, and in Anne Rice fashion, there's unnecessarily graphic descriptions of children in sexual situations and some strangely racist undertones.
The sections of the book about the Mayfair witches of the past is genuinely exciting to read, but the main plot is so unbearably awful that it can't lift this book beyond two stars for me. The ending as well, is unsatisfying for as long as we spent with the Mayfair family.
Oh, and in Anne Rice fashion, there's unnecessarily graphic descriptions of children in sexual situations and some strangely racist undertones.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Colonisation, Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Racism
skeptic_hecate's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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? No
2.0
It took me forever to finish.
I will start with t he good:
The book is beautifully written, you can tell the author has a great imagination and good story telling. The lore is really well built, quite deep and interesting. The story has a lot of potential.
Now, what I didn't like:
The lore is so interesting, the life and family tree of the Mayfair witches is what kept me reading, too bad is so little and only dealt deeply for a few select chapters. The rest of the book we follow 2 very unlikable protagonists. Rowan, who is so not like other girls with a large pick me energy. Reading Rowan's thoughts only made me dislike her even more. She has this holier-than-thou attitude, she thinks she is smarter and better than everyone in the room, doesn't respect anyone, not even her (supposed) love of her life. She only thinks about sex, how everyone else is beneath her, and how smart she is. She is also very misogynistic, for absolutely no reason too, and towards every woman she encounters, dead or alive.
I can get behind a character like that, if the plot showed us that she is in the wrong. But she never is shown that, she never learns, and she is so boring to read. The second most boring character to read, the most boring character to read is Michael Curry.
I think the author was aiming for the lovable Himbo but forgot the lovable part. Not only is he widly inconsistent (a complete idiot at one point, then smarter the next page and then even more of an idiot the following chapter, only to be again somewhat smart), he is also very boring to read. We are told that he is this brave old-fashioned man who carves his own path, and shown over and over again how cowardly he acts. I wanted to skip all his parts because he is so unbelievably boring.
Aron Lightner is the best character, I love him, I wish there was more of him.
This book drags, this book is so slow, everything happens so slowly and is repeated constantly. I do not need to be spoon fed the same irrelevant information over and over again. There is so much in depth description of the house (which I actually enjoyed the first 2 or 3 times), but it gets stale after the eleventh time.
The book ending is an obvious sequel bait, too rushed, little effort and detail put, Rowan does a complete 180 personality wise. Also, the entire book reeks of the author's internalizedf misogyny. I mean the amount of hat thrown towards women who *gasp* are child free. I only wish she treated incest and rape (prominently present in her book) with the same level of disgust as a woman deciding to be child free (abortion scene and birth scene are so ironic, I cannot believe the author couldn't put two and two together).
Unless you are a die hard Anne Rice fan, don't bother with this book, read the Wikipedia summary and maybe look up a Mayfair witches family tree online and you'll be missing very little.
I will start with t he good:
The book is beautifully written, you can tell the author has a great imagination and good story telling. The lore is really well built, quite deep and interesting. The story has a lot of potential.
Now, what I didn't like:
The lore is so interesting, the life and family tree of the Mayfair witches is what kept me reading, too bad is so little and only dealt deeply for a few select chapters. The rest of the book we follow 2 very unlikable protagonists. Rowan, who is so not like other girls with a large pick me energy. Reading Rowan's thoughts only made me dislike her even more. She has this holier-than-thou attitude, she thinks she is smarter and better than everyone in the room, doesn't respect anyone, not even her (supposed) love of her life. She only thinks about sex, how everyone else is beneath her, and how smart she is. She is also very misogynistic, for absolutely no reason too, and towards every woman she encounters, dead or alive.
I can get behind a character like that, if the plot showed us that she is in the wrong. But she never is shown that, she never learns, and she is so boring to read. The second most boring character to read, the most boring character to read is Michael Curry.
I think the author was aiming for the lovable Himbo but forgot the lovable part. Not only is he widly inconsistent (a complete idiot at one point, then smarter the next page and then even more of an idiot the following chapter, only to be again somewhat smart), he is also very boring to read. We are told that he is this brave old-fashioned man who carves his own path, and shown over and over again how cowardly he acts. I wanted to skip all his parts because he is so unbelievably boring.
Aron Lightner is the best character, I love him, I wish there was more of him.
This book drags, this book is so slow, everything happens so slowly and is repeated constantly. I do not need to be spoon fed the same irrelevant information over and over again. There is so much in depth description of the house (which I actually enjoyed the first 2 or 3 times), but it gets stale after the eleventh time.
The book ending is an obvious sequel bait, too rushed, little effort and detail put, Rowan does a complete 180 personality wise. Also, the entire book reeks of the author's internalizedf misogyny. I mean the amount of hat thrown towards women who *gasp* are child free. I only wish she treated incest and rape (prominently present in her book) with the same level of disgust as a woman deciding to be child free (abortion scene and birth scene are so ironic, I cannot believe the author couldn't put two and two together).
Unless you are a die hard Anne Rice fan, don't bother with this book, read the Wikipedia summary and maybe look up a Mayfair witches family tree online and you'll be missing very little.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexism, Incest, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, and Death
_nicolewilson's review against another edition
Content was too disturbing
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Incest
katestar_p's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest
Minor: Forced institutionalization, Racism, and Alcohol
silversparkles50's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Death, Incest, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Sexual content, Blood, Violence, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, and Rape
allie_fawn's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Death, Death of parent, Sexual content, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Addiction, Alcoholism, Abortion, Sexual harassment, Incest, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, and Rape