Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke

52 reviews

quintopus's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

A very interesting read that kept me guessing almost to the end. Very expertly crafted, with every part of the mystery slowly unraveling and finally connecting impressively cleanly. 
The charcters are very complex, as are the relationships, and the supernatural aspect serves more as an illustration of grander societal and personal issues than as horror in the usual sense. Beautifully written, almost poetic. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Cancer, Child death, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Miscarriage

ghostams's review

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I really enjoyed this book! It was a really interesting take on folklore, magic, and science! I have to say up until the last 50 or so pages, I wasn’t sure which way the plot was leaning which is really impressive! This was a book equally heart-wrenching and heart-warming. One that, in my opinion, is a truly unique take on the subjects it contains!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Religious bigotry, Gore, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Child death, Death, Murder, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Drug use, and Abandonment

Minor: Torture, Vomit, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Car accident, Sexual assault, Rape, and Medical content

cassie7e's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

"Sometimes you miss someone so badly you want to believe you've found them" A sneaky line that nails the theme of the whole story.

Starts off with a literary tone that could be any other novel spanning multiple timeframes, getting creepier and darker as you go, ramping up the horror at the end. The sci fi aspects wouldn't hold up in a pure sci fi novel I think, but since this one stands on folklore, I didn't give it too much scrutiny for being flimsy on the science. 

This book satisfied my hankering for a dark mysterious story blending Scottish settings, and folktale with reality, and was crafted well to reveal bits and pieces throughout. My early hunch about what was happening with the wildlings was correct, but it took time to know that, and was still enjoyable to watch as the characters figured it out and dealt with the consequences. I wish the witchy parts had been more Scottish than Icelandic/Nordic, just for personal reasons and not any fault of the story in using them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Terminal illness, Sexual assault, Violence, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Blood, and Body horror

Minor: Miscarriage and Death of parent

caitlin_123a's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Confinement, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Torture, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, and Gore

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Grief, Murder, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, and Cancer

Minor: Animal death and Animal cruelty

graceev's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Cancer, Car accident, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Death, and Medical content

Moderate: Sexual assault, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Alcohol, and Rape

Minor: Drug use

Sister disappeared, Smoking, Missing people

bibliobetty's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I don't typically read thrillers so am not overly familiar with the genre. That being said, I loved the multiple POVs and settings. The author really has a way with words and really set the mood and made everything feel dark and moody as needed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death and Abandonment

Minor: Grief, Kidnapping, Cancer, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Suicide, and Death of parent

narsere's review

mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Pregnancy, Murder, Terminal illness, and Cancer

Minor: Torture, Sexual assault, Miscarriage, and Infertility

nyxlexica's review against another edition

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? Yes

2.0

Suffers from poor prose and a big reveal that was obvious even before we were offered the red herring. Could use a thorough edit.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer and Child death

velsbooknook's review against another edition

dark tense

3.0

The overall atmosphere and vibes were very good! It was creepy and eerie and I just loved the whole setting. I had some trouble following the different POVs and time stamps and I think it's because the characters really lacked in depth for me. I enjoyed Luna's story line the most and still remember parts of it but I already forgot every other person this book was about. I really can't remember. Without spoiling the ending I just was disappointed with the outcome. The plot twist/ending made sense but for me something was missing. I ended the book and was like "ok.". 

It is definitely not a bad book, but it didn't grab me as much as I would have liked it. 

Last but not least: the note of the author at the end was very interesting and I enjoyed this a lot and I will definitely want to read more about the witches of Scotland. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child death, Violence, Rape, Cancer, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

katerina_l's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

Graphic: Violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Body horror, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Child death, Infertility, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, and Child abuse