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thewritebooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Immediately after finishing this, having cried through the last 15 pages, all I could think about was the beautiful way that all of the themes came together at the end to tell a story of life and loss. We travelled through the role of medieval women in the church, female solidarity and sisterhood, sapphic love and desire, the cycles of the seasons and the catholic calendar, power and greed and the sin of creation, followed by the moral weighting of these sins against these women's souls.
The prose was never dramatic, and by avoiding direct speech throughout, the author adds to the feeling of being another witness to the years marching onwards at the Abbey. The messages in this book were very close to my heart and I would be interested in going back with tabs to track and analyse those themes a bit more, having the hindsight now to see how well they were laid out.
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Bullying, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Child death, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual content, Rape, Violence, and Animal death
Minor: Classism, Excrement, Death of parent, and Dementia
careinthelibrary's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Dementia, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Miscarriage, Animal death, Pregnancy, Child death, Death, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Cancer, Body shaming, Mental illness, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, War, Islamophobia, and Terminal illness
bronzeageholly's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death, Animal death, Grief, Violence, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Rape, Sexual content, and Pregnancy
Minor: Bullying, Transphobia, Homophobia, and Cancer
bookedbymadeline's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
It could be a bit slow for my liking and the second half was harder to get through. I liked the references to Melusine, who I’ve heard about prior when reading other books about the war of the roses!
I thought the ending was really well done. Overall an enjoyable read that I devoured in three days despite being slow for my taste! I had read one of Geoff’s works earlier in the year and hated it so I’m happy I gave her a second chance. I’m curious now to see how I like her other works. Highly recommend if you like stories about powerful women challenging that status quo (especially in the world of religion)!
Graphic: Gore, Sexism, Rape, Torture, Death, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Sexual content, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Grief, Child death, and Animal death
Minor: Violence
roseltov's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
It also took a while for me to get used to the writing style. There are no speech marks, which I found quite distracting to being with. There are also a lot of antiquated and religious words used, which made it harder to read to start off with.
Having said that, there was plenty to love. The world was painted richly, perhaps too viscerally at times - it was a little gross in places. But I’ve finished the book with a fully realised image of the world in my mind, and a weird love for the strange band of characters.
This book isn’t easy, but I would recommend it.
Moderate: Gore, Violence, Terminal illness, Vomit, and Medical content
dr_aimz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Dementia, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Child death, Misogyny, Death of parent, Cancer, Medical trauma, Violence, and Death
Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, and Domestic abuse
apersonfromflorida's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Death, War, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Child death, and Animal death
Minor: Vomit, Religious bigotry, and Rape
have_a_doris_day's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Grief, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Child death, Confinement, Dementia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Terminal illness
Minor: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, War, and Rape
prettiestwhistles's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Terminal illness and Death
Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Child death, and Sexual content
Minor: Islamophobia and Dementia
balth_the_chaotic_good's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Vomit, and War