Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Cackle by Rachel Harrison

10 reviews

cavefly's review against another edition

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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Abandonment, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

emilywemily6's review against another edition

dark lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

For a light, spooky read for the season, this book had more depth than I expected. This book is about a character’s experience and growth rather than plot, and I found it really interesting with lots of insights actually. It was more gorey/graphic than I expected too (the curses were very creative). It took a while for the witchiness to really get introduced, so it had a slower start but the pacing picked up throughout the book. I appreciated how Annie’s perspective of her relationship with Sam changed over time; not a fan of him. I was disappointed that the co-dependent/slightly toxic nature of this friendship wasn’t really addressed beyond the one conflict at the end of the book, as we didn’t really get closure about how Annie chose to act morally in the long run. I appreciated the themes of empowerment though, and the vibes of this were perfect for October! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Bullying, Cursing, Grief, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, Blood, and Misogyny

Moderate: Hate crime, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Eating disorder, Murder, Infidelity, and Vomit

bluelillybooks's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Menacing, magnanimous, magic.

Annie is a 30 year-old teacher who suffers from depression after her boyfriend broke up with her. She moves through life trying to be as inconspicious as possible, while her mind is haunted by anxiety. Now that she has to move cities and live on her own, she is confronted with her bad drinking habits and loneliness. Then she meets Sophie, who carries herself with a grace and confidence that inspires awe in Annie. They quickly become friends, but if Sophie is that wonderful, then why are the other villagers always nervous around her? And why are there so many spiders in Annie's appartment?

I have never before seen myself in a character as much as I saw myself in Annie. "Cackle" describes anxiety attacks, self-doubt and depressive symptoms in such an accurate way that I highlighted some of the passages to show to my therapist. Not even joking. I've seen some reviews calling Annie gullible and annoying, but girlies that's literally how anxiety works *shrugs*. 

Without spoiling anything, because I think everyone should read this book, "Cackle" is about finding the courage to live life for yourself and all the magic in yourself that is just waiting to come out. Also spooky vibes!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Bullying

Moderate: Body shaming, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Eating disorder, and Grief

Spiders

blacksphinx's review against another edition

dark funny reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Vomit, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Grief

Moderate: Bullying and Sexism

Minor: Blood and Infidelity

emoryjoy's review against another edition

dark inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

The back of the book sounds like it will be a queer romance. It is not. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Blood

Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Death, Gore, Stalking, Blood, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Body shaming

Arachnophobia - there are lots of spiders in this book

juju_bayou's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief

maregred's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol and Alcoholism

Minor: Infidelity, Grief, and Toxic relationship

bitterseason's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Grief, Body shaming, and Body horror

Minor: Animal death, Misogyny, Murder, Vomit, Bullying, Sexism, Cursing, Infidelity, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

queergoth_reads's review

dark funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.5

I received this as an eARC from NetGalley but all thoughts are my owns. 

This is such a cozy little horror novel. It doesn't lean into the horror as much as I think it could have but it was a really great read. It's definitely the book is give people if someone asked about my taste in literature. 

Also as someone who is afraid of spiders, this book did a great job at endearing them to me which is quite a feat. 

<Spoiler> I do feel that maybe Sophie was forcing her world view on Annie a bit much but then I think most of the conflict in the book wouldn't have happened so probably necessary in this case.  </Spoiler>

I do feel like  Annie's dependency on alcohol probably could have done with a bit more serious discussion. 

Overall great read though. Very much enjoyed it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Grief and Toxic relationship

Minor: Death of parent and Eating disorder

amandalorianxo's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

My mind is going back and forth between 3.5 to 4 stars for this one. Annie is nearly thirty and she is moving to upstate NY after her and her longtime boyfriend break up. Annie doesn’t have a lot of confidence in herself and she somehow catches the attention of Rowan’s(her new town) one and only Sophie - a woman who seems to have a controversial role in the area. This book went beyond a simple lonely woman meets a witch who lives in the middle of the woods. It sparks a conversation about being comfortable with who you are and not necessarily needing a partner to be happy. Unfortunately, about the 60/70 percent of the book is where I got a little confused, especially when it came to Annie’s sudden realization. I wanted more of an explanation than just an assumption based on a drink. However, I will say, this is what I wish The Ex Hex could have been but didn’t quite meet expectations. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror and Grief