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shae_purcell's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I didn't like this book as much as I thought I might. I enjoyed the multi-POV chapters and the diverse representation. I liked a lot of the characters and relationships. I don't know what it is. It fell a little flat for me, like the characters could have been fleshed out more maybe.
A word of warning: Don't go into this expecting a tidy ending. It ends on a huge cliffhanger. I was ready to start the second book until I was halfway through that last chapter. Now I'm really irritated and thinking about taking a break. I'm sure as an author you want readers to be so excited for the next book that they'll run out and pick up a copy immediately. This ending didn't make me excited for the next book. It makes me dread reading it, even though I still kind of want to hang out with the characters a bit more. I may pick it up eventually but I'll feel sour about it.
A word of warning: Don't go into this expecting a tidy ending. It ends on a huge cliffhanger. I was ready to start the second book until I was halfway through that last chapter. Now I'm really irritated and thinking about taking a break. I'm sure as an author you want readers to be so excited for the next book that they'll run out and pick up a copy immediately. This ending didn't make me excited for the next book. It makes me dread reading it, even though I still kind of want to hang out with the characters a bit more. I may pick it up eventually but I'll feel sour about it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Medical content, Death, Child abuse, Sexual content, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Outing, Transphobia, Animal cruelty, Blood, and Animal death
Moderate: Murder, Misogyny, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Lesbophobia, Eating disorder, Incest, Islamophobia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicide, Classism, Homophobia, Self harm, Drug use, Alcohol, Colonisation, Torture, Racism, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, and War
There is a lot of intentional misgendering in the chapters told from theraccoonteeth's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Grief, Death, Dysphoria, Hate crime, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Outing, and Transphobia
Moderate: Genocide, Vomit, Classism, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Murder, Toxic relationship, Racism, Toxic friendship, and War
bookish_wanderer's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Death
clemireads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Violence, Transphobia, and Death
katharina90's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
I enjoyed the themes, like the politics and dynamics at play among the covens and witchy parts of society, but the plot really didn't wow me. It was a little boring.
The book has LGBTQ and BIPOC rep but I would have liked for Theo to play a bigger, more active part in the story.
I listened to the audiobook and Aiofe McMahon is a favorite narrator so that helped get me through the book when the story dragged.
The book has LGBTQ and BIPOC rep but I would have liked for Theo to play a bigger, more active part in the story.
I listened to the audiobook and Aiofe McMahon is a favorite narrator so that helped get me through the book when the story dragged.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Fatphobia, Confinement, Violence, Racism, Death, Murder, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Ableism, Infidelity, and Abandonment
flashandoutbreak's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, Violence, Dysphoria, Murder, Mass/school shootings, Abandonment, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, War, and Outing
rideauriverreads's review against another edition
dark
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Violence, Death, Transphobia, and Outing
emilywrayburn's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-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
I started this book in audio format, but I am finding lately I haven’t had a lot of time to invest in listening to books, so I decided to switch to the paperback. I’m so glad I did, because after taking at least a couple of weeks to listen to the first 40%, I read the other 60% in a matter of days, and I’m pretty sure I enjoyed it all the more for being able to properly absorb myself.
HMRC draws on a lot of English witchy folklore, with references to Pendle Hill and such, but also examines the ways in which witchcraft narratives have developed over the years to favour certain types of stories. The four main characters are bound by childhood oaths but they are now very different people, hardened by a war that made them grow up too quickly, with different values and different attitudes to the world around them.
I was impressed with Dawson’s ability to handle the different POVs in this book, particularly those who are in opposition to her own values. Niamh was definitely my favourite character, though I enjoyed Leonie and Elle’s perspectives too. Helena is a compelling character to read even though she is an absolute piece of work. Seeing her transformation from “Well, she’s wrong but maybe we could sit her down and explain why she’s being unreasonable” to “wow, she went completely off the rails” made for some compelling reading.
I know that some people are going to say that Dawson was “heavy-handed” because I found myself thinking that, too, before reminding myself that discussions of issues affecting marginalised people are allowed to be there on the page. An author doesn’t have to seamlessly weave their exploration of issues into the story and never explicitly mention it for it to be acceptable.
The cliffhanger ending does feel a little cheap or unearned, but I am keen to see where the next volume takes us! I already had it on hold at the library before I had finished this one and I’ll be diving into it soon!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, War, Murder, and Transphobia
Moderate: Death and War
Minor: Animal death and Sexual content
minervacerridwen's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
relaxing
tense
fast-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
3.75
I enjoyed this book in the way that I enjoy a good action movie: there were lots of exciting and tense moments, good dialogue and good visuals. This helped to make this into a quick read that made me feel a lot of emotions, if only fleetingly. If it were made into a movie, it might be one I'd love to watch: a mix of almost silly James Bond action with the old magic world many people of my generation grew up in but had to leave behind due to its issues - with a good dose of queerness and some racial awareness added in.
The metaphors, painfully relevant to our current society and the rising transphobia in the UK, were delightfully unsubtle. However, sadly, the book seemed to come with its own set of issues. I was puzzled by how a book that's rooted so firmly in the theme of inclusion apparently still views being non-binary as something weird and "difficult to get right", without that ever coming back to bite any of the characters. And then there was the ending...Major spoiler here, in case you're someone who clicks open spoiler tags automatically: I hope it will be addressed in book 2, but I really didn't like how the "solution" was to give Helena the death penalty, for no other reason than that that was "how things were done". I'm pretty sure (or at least hope) it will have consequences for what follows in book 2, but now it seemed to be treated very lightly. The final chapters felt very rushed and more like bait to draw you into the second book than like a proper ending to the first book. The very final event, however, intrigued me enough that I will have to admit that this baiting technique probably worked on me.
Please mind the content warnings.
The metaphors, painfully relevant to our current society and the rising transphobia in the UK, were delightfully unsubtle. However, sadly, the book seemed to come with its own set of issues. I was puzzled by how a book that's rooted so firmly in the theme of inclusion apparently still views being non-binary as something weird and "difficult to get right", without that ever coming back to bite any of the characters. And then there was the ending...
Please mind the content warnings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Car accident, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Hate crime, War, and Racism
titalindaslibrary's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-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
3.75
Excuse me, that ending???
I feel like I need to sit with this a bit longer, but it read like Netflix’s Sabrina the Teenage Witch directly challenging JKR.
Trigger warning for transphobia, we get a POV of a TERF witch in this book. It’s very explicitly challenged and shown to be wrong, but still. I can see how triggering that could be to read.
I have some mixed feelings about some minor parts of this (excuse me, why did Elle’s “friends” not just tell her that her husband is cheating on her?? What kind of sisterhood hides that!? ), but I think ultimately this is a welcome addition to witchy novels that address issues of our time.
I feel like I need to sit with this a bit longer, but it read like Netflix’s Sabrina the Teenage Witch directly challenging JKR.
Trigger warning for transphobia, we get a POV of a TERF witch in this book. It’s very explicitly challenged and shown to be wrong, but still. I can see how triggering that could be to read.
I have some mixed feelings about some minor parts of this (
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Racism and War