Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - Cackle

Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Cackle by Rachel Harrison

10 reviews

egarlock's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

2.5

This is not a good book. 2.5 stars because good and enjoyable aren’t the same thing. It’s fine as a piece of fluff, I guess, but it’s trying to make a big feminist statement and largely fails. When I say trying, I really mean bludgeoning. Don’t get me wrong, I love witchcraft as feminist allegory. I think everyone should read Once and Future Witches. This author probably could benefit from therapy though. The protagonist starts off as a sad sack serial monogamist wallowing after agreeing to a mutual breakup she doesn’t want. Annie moves upstate where she meets the mysterious and empowered Sophie who supposedly shows her the path to self actualization and independence. Here be spoilers [The problem here is that Sophie is secretive and emotionally manipulative AF. Sophie is just as bad as the mediocre white dude Annie is sulking about, possibly worse. There is a thread of distrust and unease through the entire novel and had the author followed that to show Sophie as a toxic friend before eventually having Annie find her own power in some ending reminiscent of The Craft, this could have been a good book. Instead, we are told that Annie realizes she doesn’t need Sophie anymore, but she decides she still wants her in her life. I 100% do not believe that Annie can function without her fucked up codependence with Sophie. Also, the lesson is that being a single independent woman is the only path to self actualization and it creates a power that men and society will fear. I don’t think any woman needs to be romantically paired, but this is incredibly trite and reductive. It’s really a shame because this book had so much potential.]

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emilywemily6's review against another edition

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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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hunkydory's review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-paced

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

2.75

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vanillanightmare's review against another edition

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funny inspiring lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

this fun little novel might be a new fav of mine!

picked up on a whim because i was in the mood for a light but witchy read and this was exactly what i needed.

part chick lit, part supernatural horror (with a lil sprinkling of body horror), Cackle tells the story of a woman who gets dumped unceremoniously by her long-term boyfriend, moves to a small New England town, and finds a new bestie.

but as their friendship develops, she realises her new friend is a little witchy - and finds her own power.

I’ll definitely be picking up more books from Rachel Harrison, and this one will definitely get a re-read around Halloween!

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homebodywitch's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-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

4.5

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poisoned_icecream's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

d0505's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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bitterseason's review against another edition

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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

Content Warnings

cinthiaurora's review against another edition

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dark funny lighthearted mysterious reflective 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

4.0

I picked this up because I wanted something spooky, but still lighthearted and easy to read, and the good news was that this delivered. While Rachel Harrison’s writing WAS easy to read though, I found her writing flowed really well and was very introspective. Premise of the book sounds like a pitch for a sitcom, which for me is a plus. If it WAS a sitcom I would watch 10 seasons of it. Good read if you know what to expect!

I deducted .5 because Annie and Sophie never kissed. And another .5 because at a certain point it was just unbelievable to me that Annie moves to a pretty new town where she befriends a LITERAL WITCH who cooks for her and makes her dresses and shows her her own magic powers AND has a cute little spider side-kick….and she’s STILL thinking about her loser ex-boyfriend? She’s literally insane. Also I really thought for a minute there that all the character development we did manage to get from her would be undone when she decided to see Sam. I literally had zero faith in her. None whatsoever. So a pleasant surprise she turned it around in the end. Anyways, Annie and Sophie should have kissed. I don’t care if Sophie was a little toxic. I support women’s wrongs. Otherwise pretty solid read.

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sarahholliday's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I absolutely loved The Return (Harrison's first novel), but Cackle just didn't hit the right note for me. It felt like the story stayed very surface-level, possibly because we never go to really dig into the minds and lives of the other inhabitants of Rowan due to the close first-person narration.

While I liked that both Sophie and Annie defy categorization as "good" or "evil," and really appreciate the obvious feminist argument being made re: independent, confident women, I also felt like that approach was only possible because Harrison refused to interrogate the moral complexities of the women's choices.

That being said, this was still a delightfully creepy-without-being-scary read focused on female friendship and the importance of finding one's sense of self. Fun, spooky, and perfect for Fall reading!

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