Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Familiars by Stacey Halls

24 reviews

foxonabook's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0


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louisegraveyard's review against another edition

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emotional informative mysterious sad slow-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? It's complicated

3.5


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wallflovver's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

there's something about this book that had me absolutely hooked, i was spending my days looking forward to unravelling more of this story as soon as i had the chance. 

im a sucker for female friendship stories, especially ones where the two seemingly have nobody else and grow together, making their days less lonely and filled with light. 

i especially loved the imagery of foxes following Fleetwood, to represent her bond with Alice even when they are apart.


i generally disliked the male characters, and felt great sympathy for the women in this story. as is true for women at the time, the society they lived in cost them their lives. 

the mix of fiction and historical fact in this book was really interesting, i enjoyed the way it was presented. 

the writing style was really nice and easy to consume, i got thru this book really quickly and had no issues with understanding the story and its plot points

overall i was completely gripped by this story and was pleased with the ending

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andrea_carroll123's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.25


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labbradorite's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.75

I love the writing style of this book, it felt like i was reading a classic but much much easier to understand

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zoeylou's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0


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robcha's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.25


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bex_knighthunterbooks's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

This was ok, but didn't grab me - it didn't feel like enough happened for my liking. However, I got on well with the writing style and I enjoyed the female friendship and the girls getting to know each other (sadly not more of this!). I also found the main character's life story eye-opening, but the mystery was too slow paced for me and the witch trials not as centre stage as I'd have liked. Enjoyable enough, but probably not one that will stick with me very long. 

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mchannah's review against another edition

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4.5


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neophyte's review against another edition

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1.5

The more I think about it, the fact that this book ends expecting you to forgive Richard for impregnating another woman and hiding her in Fleetwood's childhood home, where she was sexually abused as a toddler, is infuriating. The way it attempted to redeem her mother was so weak as well. Like I don't care that you annulled the marriage, that doesn't make it better. And Alice, who I cared about and grew attached to because her relationship with Fleetwood was the best part of this book, just... disappears. Ugh I had such high hopes for this.

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