Reviews tagging 'Antisemitism'

The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz

10 reviews

jessie_eidson's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Murder, Toxic friendship, Violence, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Antisemitism, Cancer, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Gun violence

Minor: Vomit, Excrement, Addiction, Alcohol, Abandonment, Genocide, and Panic attacks/disorders

kyanitecourage's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Kidnapping, and Vomit

Moderate: Cursing, Antisemitism, Biphobia, Outing, and Excrement

violetvulptex's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Sexual content

Moderate: Death, Blood, Drug use, Alcohol, Murder, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Torture, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Misogyny, Antisemitism, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexism, Transphobia, Bullying, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Racism, Religious bigotry, Domestic abuse, Excrement, and Gore

vj_thompson's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Very interesting book. I preferred the story within the story. Would recommend the audiobook. The narrator truly embodied the characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Death, Blood, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Murder, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Drug use, Gun violence, Racism, Bullying, Gaslighting, Grief, Cursing, Vomit, and Violence

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Racism, Antisemitism, Excrement, and Child abuse

bootsmom3's review

adventurous challenging dark funny hopeful mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Blood, Drug use, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual content, Torture, Alcohol, Confinement, Cursing, Death, and Gun violence

Moderate: Antisemitism and Racism

Minor: Vomit, Excrement, Genocide, and Death of parent

nightswim78's review

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I am genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. Though there was a pacing issue at the beginning that left me uninterested, I became enraptured as soon as the main character started diving deeper into her messy relationship with her ex-best friend. Another highlight was the 'book within a book' element, which was well done and each excerpt was well placed. There's something about books with characters trapped in a cycle of obsession that just hits the spot. I can't wait to see what Bartz does next!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Kidnapping

Minor: Antisemitism and Racism

There's a scene in which a character shares the experiences of two families: one who survived The Holocaust, and one who participated in The Holocaust. There's joy from a character when it comes to the latter point.

abookandaspotoftea's review

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Confinement, Murder, Death, and Sexual content

Minor: Antisemitism, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, and Child abuse

kris386's review

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Sexual content, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Toxic friendship, Violence, Vomit, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Excrement, and Sexual assault

Minor: Child abuse, Antisemitism, Misogyny, and Sexism

chighland's review

dark emotional mysterious tense 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? Yes

3.75

I seem to be in the minority here, but I actually quite liked this book. 

First, the setting was incredible. I love a creepy mansion in the middle of nowhere, and to make it a writing retreat from hell is really the icing on the cake. 

I also like a slow-burn on occasion, and that's what you got here -- there was an ever-present prickling weirdness that abounded, and that's what drove the story forward. Yes, the first half is a little quiet, but I enjoyed that reliance on atmosphere.

I also liked the story within a story.

Yes, the characters are odious -- but I thought that was the point. They have bad takes and masquerade as open-minded. I know that's not everyone's cup of tea, but I do like it. I didn't feel like their occasionally problematic views were endorsed by Bartz, but rather, that she wanted to showcase just how messy they all were. I could be wrong! But that's how I took it.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia and Racism

Minor: Antisemitism

In general, I thought the problematic content came because characters had problematic views, not because the author did, but I do see valid criticism of some of the storylines. Proceed at your own risk.

ndgrad98's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Cancer, Confinement, Gaslighting, Blood, Antisemitism, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Gore