Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke

62 reviews

autbot02's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I honestly really enjoyed this book! I loved the premise and loved the characters! The mixing between folklore, witches, and travel was amazing!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Child death

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Miscarriage

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

fancyjess_party's review against another edition

adventurous 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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Murder, Cursing, Violence, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Child death, Death, and Terminal illness

hamiltonbex's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I enjoyed this book and felt the way that it's constructed was a great way of giving the reader the pieces of information they needed to solve the mystery gradually and allowing them to put it together themselves like a jigsaw. Following several characters across different periods in time did make it a little tricky to really connect with each of them deeply, but I still found myself rooting for them and hoping that they would come out unscathed. The book is more spooky and mysterious than outright scary, with tension mounting the further along you go. The ending did feel a little convenient, but I still enjoyed it as a resolution. 

Would recommend for people who like a slow-burn spooky mystery, with a focus on womanhood, witches, nature and the occult.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual assault, Child death, and Violence

swordsmith's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

i think the ending wraps up a little too neatly and there are a few holes in the set up but otherwise its very atmospheric and jumps between different characters/settings quite well. becomes a mildly gothic pageturner

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Child death, and Abandonment

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Death of parent and Miscarriage

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

pkc's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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? No

4.0

This book had a touch of everything and I loved it. It was a rip-roaring plot, fabulous character development and a really great mystery that seemed to be one thing but masqueraded as something else. Just brilliant. I had a rare time reading this book and I’d like to look at more that the author has released!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Animal death, Murder, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Body horror, Grief, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Torture