Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Malice by Heather Walter

21 reviews

sav_22's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Xenophobia, Ableism, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Blood, Drug use, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Slavery, Bullying, Drug abuse, Death, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Toxic friendship, Violence, and War

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Colonisation, Torture, Medical content, and Outing

kryzysowa_narzeczona's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Self harm, and Medical trauma

quitegood's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

3.75

This is a book of two halves, literally and figuratively. Literally in that the book is split into two parts, but figuratively because if you judged this book on its first half and assumed it wasn't worth your time, you'd be missing out on a thrilling and explosive second half. But I wouldn't blame you if you had dropped this book based on the first 200 pages. 
I want to be charitable and say the slower first part is necessary for the second half to have its impact, but that's like saying a long speach on careful fiscal planning enhances the fireworks show afterwards. Not to say the first half is that tedious, but you do feel like little is happening, and that which does happen feels like a contrivance.

I wish I knew who Alyce was before I learned of her abuse. The book explores it fully come the second half, but in the first half, Alyce comes across as petulant and petty. Later we learn she has good reason to be, but I feel it would been better know this first, not retroactively.

But this book does punch you in the feels, so you've been warned! If you have any trauma at all from your childhood and are not in a good place regarding it, might be best to skip this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Xenophobia, and Death of parent

keya_caivalur's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-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: Blood, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Xenophobia, Genocide, Sexual content, War, Death of parent, Drug use, Torture, and Gaslighting

libby_i_guess's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.75

I genuinely can’t put my finger on it, but something about the writing feels very much like a book for teens. My best guess is the first-person POV, but i don’t think that’s all of it. I was mostly pushing through this book because I was curious, but the last third of it I actually enjoyed. Somehow, the story came alive and kept me interested. I still can’t say I loved it or anything, but I will read the next one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Death, Xenophobia, and Torture

ninamanon's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

3.75

What a great original take on the fairytale! I loved the world building and the magic system. Especially the first half of the book was thrilling and I couldn’t put it down. 

The writing was a bit too obvious and over explaining to my taste, sometimes. Some things would’ve worked better if they were left for the reader to figure out and conclude. 

The main twist could be spotted from a mile away. Maybe that was intentional! But it didn’t really work for me. 

I also didn’t feel a lot of chemistry between the main couple. It felt a little forced. There was barely any buildup. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Xenophobia, Blood, Bullying, and Racism

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Addiction, Classism, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Torture, War, Alcohol, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, and Slavery

f18's review against another edition

dark sad 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Xenophobia, and Murder

Moderate: Blood, Classism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Sexual content

Minor: Cursing, Colonisation, Rape, Lesbophobia, Suicide, and Torture

frantically's review against another edition

dark emotional informative 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

4.0

This turned so unexpectedly dark in the last third and I loved it so much! The retelling aspect worked so well — the ending relies on the original fairytale but in a way I didn't expect at all. I'm a bit unsure about how Alyce acted in the last chapters, it is all in line with her characters, I guess I'm just not as used to actual villains being the main character 😅 Interested to read the next one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Blood, and Bullying

Moderate: Torture, Homophobia, and Xenophobia

Minor: Self harm, War, and Death of parent

islesbiyana's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Child abuse, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, and Homophobia

Minor: Sexual content, Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Genocide, Classism, and Xenophobia

lunar_song's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Review coming soon

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia

Moderate: Violence, Murder, Death, Racism, Child abuse, Abandonment, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Lesbophobia and Sexism