Scan barcode
blueyogi's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Confinement, Abandonment, Sexism, Misogyny, and Death of parent
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Alcohol, Torture, Violence, and Sexual content
faliiza's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Unbelievably brutal yet beautiful story. Such a dark and unforgiving world. Mesmerising prose. Main character who contains multitudes. A wholly unique and dark twist on a modern world with witches.
This book had the feminist in me raging. I was shaking in anger at points, so close to throwing the book. But it was not only the women who are wronged in this world, white supremacy is wild at large and black people are paying the price. And add to that poor parenting and generally sucky people. There are so many things wrong here, a real dystopian cornucopia of awfulness.
But. There’s also light. Beaty and wonder. MAGIC. Love. Friendship. True reflection and revelation of oneself. Power and imagination.
I truly love this book. It seeped into my soul.
Here’s a bunch of quotes from the book. Most of them made me angry, some sad. All stuck with me.
This book had the feminist in me raging. I was shaking in anger at points, so close to throwing the book. But it was not only the women who are wronged in this world, white supremacy is wild at large and black people are paying the price. And add to that poor parenting and generally sucky people. There are so many things wrong here, a real dystopian cornucopia of awfulness.
But. There’s also light. Beaty and wonder. MAGIC. Love. Friendship. True reflection and revelation of oneself. Power and imagination.
I truly love this book. It seeped into my soul.
Here’s a bunch of quotes from the book. Most of them made me angry, some sad. All stuck with me.
”In the class textbook was a chapter titled "The Protectors." It was all about how women needed men to guide them and help them stay on the path of light. Marriage is, yes, for love, but also a way to keep us all safe.”
"The only safe place for a woman is 100 percent alone."
"When the great creator made women, he made the glue that holds this world together. Women give birth, they care for their children, their husbands, their parents when they age. They create beautiful homes, beautiful meals, and see the world with gentleness and care.
"Women were made smaller and gentler and kinder and obedient because without those qualities the whole world would crumble. Isn't it miraculous? To be made something so wonderful, to always know your path and to never be lost."
“In every room of that house, I told myself, If you keep acting normal, you can have a life.”
“In every room I told myself I had so many things other people were desperate for, so shut up and lean in to being happy.”
“How long has it been since someone spoke your name with tenderness and not irritation or boredom or anger or threats?”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture
Moderate: Death of parent, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Violence, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Sexism, and Religious bigotry
ajay913's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Abandonment, Animal death, Torture, Murder, Blood, and Misogyny
Moderate: Lesbophobia, Biphobia, Racial slurs, Hate crime, Racism, and Homophobia
Minor: Bullying
rcsreads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Bullying, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Homophobia, Drug use, Grief, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Murder, Violence, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Torture
superiour_medium's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
An incredible bite size book in the style of Atwood but far surpassing her works. Giddings’ has demonstrated ability to put her in the ranks of N.K. Jemison & her contemporaries in the realms of urban fantasy/magical realism
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Torture, Misogyny, Grief, and Violence
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Colonisation, and Blood
Minor: Body horror
kaiyakaiyo's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
this was incredibly bleak, as i expected from the author who wrote Lakewood! the bleakness was a refreshing, interesting kind though: what new, horrifyingly realistic form of oppression & reckoning can Giddings come up with next? that sounds bad but honestly it was incredibly cool to me how magic felt so real and lived while seated next to true life misogynoir. magic pulses through this book, but it didn’t escape or detract from the main theme of how any uniqueness, any difference, any potential power that women, specifically Black ones, even more specifically queer Black ones have is viewed as dangerous and in need of regulation for other peoples “safety” or wellbeing.
There were so many interesting layers to this story, and Jo’s relationship with Tiana made my heart ache and my eyes well in a very specific Black mom to Black daughter way. Mother daughter relationships are my Achilles heel (see: me crying my way through EEAAO and Turning Red), so seeing one in my shade was a bit of an arrow to the chest in the best way.
All that being said, this book ends, not quite hopefully, but upliftingly; everything isn’t sunshine and roses, but there is promise of a better future as created by community. nothing materially changes, but the feeling it gives is a positive one. I really liked this book, and will be buying it in print for my shelf :)
There were so many interesting layers to this story, and Jo’s relationship with Tiana made my heart ache and my eyes well in a very specific Black mom to Black daughter way. Mother daughter relationships are my Achilles heel (see: me crying my way through EEAAO and Turning Red), so seeing one in my shade was a bit of an arrow to the chest in the best way.
All that being said, this book ends, not quite hopefully, but upliftingly; everything isn’t sunshine and roses, but there is promise of a better future as created by community. nothing materially changes, but the feeling it gives is a positive one. I really liked this book, and will be buying it in print for my shelf :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Torture, Violence, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Homophobia, Police brutality, Forced institutionalization, Racism, and Sexism
Minor: Alcohol, Blood, Lesbophobia, Transphobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, Bullying, and Biphobia
bek_p87's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
This was a very unique story, set in a United States eerily and disturbingly similar to today's, but with (if you can believe it) fewer rights for women, LGBTQIA, and BIPOC. In this world, witchcraft still exists, and to "protect" women from being "seduced" to the "dark side" and becoming witches, they must marry by age 30.
Our heroine, Josephine, is approaching 28 and finally coming to terms with her mother's disappearance half her life ago, when she suddenly gets the chance to feel close to her again as she seeks to honour a strange request in her mother's will. This sets her on a life-altering path.
I quite enjoyed this book, although the prose was a little difficult to engage with at times, and the ending was undefined.
Our heroine, Josephine, is approaching 28 and finally coming to terms with her mother's disappearance half her life ago, when she suddenly gets the chance to feel close to her again as she seeks to honour a strange request in her mother's will. This sets her on a life-altering path.
I quite enjoyed this book, although the prose was a little difficult to engage with at times, and the ending was undefined.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Abandonment
hazelrosen's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Violence, and Misogyny
antimony's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
fourteen years ago, josephine’s mother disappeared. she inspired her own episode of unsolved mysteries, caused untold grief for her family, and was suspected time and time again as being a witch. in this world, women are closely monitored, because any behavior that’s even a bit strange could be a sign of witchcraft. but there is one last opportunity for jo to connect to her mother, through a strange clause in her will, and jo sets her regular life aside to follow it.
i did a horrible job describing this book im so sorry. i really liked the beginning and i really liked the end. the world was cool as well. but the middle dragged SOOO much. maybe it’s just because i read this as an ebook and maybe i feel negatively towards it because it took me a while to read. if i’d read it faster, in a physical copy, it probably would be 4 stars. c’est la vie. i do think it has good things to say but the middle part dragged so much and i didn’t care at all for that middle 50%. sad!
i did a horrible job describing this book im so sorry. i really liked the beginning and i really liked the end. the world was cool as well. but the middle dragged SOOO much. maybe it’s just because i read this as an ebook and maybe i feel negatively towards it because it took me a while to read. if i’d read it faster, in a physical copy, it probably would be 4 stars. c’est la vie. i do think it has good things to say but the middle part dragged so much and i didn’t care at all for that middle 50%. sad!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Torture, Misogyny, Death of parent, Racism, Violence, and Mental illness
Moderate: Police brutality and Homophobia
editoryalizing's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Racism, Death of parent, Biphobia, Misogyny, Sexism, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Transphobia and Xenophobia