Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec

25 reviews

nat20charisma's review against another edition

5.0

For fans of Circe; a modern retelling of Norse mythology. The author does a great job showing the quick passing of time while also making it feel natural. 

Tragedy with a satisfying conclusion. 

I don’t love the pregnancy trope usually, but this was done in a way that didn’t feel odd or uncomfortable. 

Gotta love the LGBTQ+ representation. And a strong female main character with a found family. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Moderate: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Grief

Minor: Abandonment, Sexual content, Violence, and Death of parent

savshanae's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

This book is an absolute MASTERPIECE. Hands down one of my favorite standalone books. I tore through it and  nearly started it over again as soon as I finished! 
As the story continued I felt more and more attached to Angrboda and invested in her story, whatever form she took. The way Gornichec weaves together so many myths (and has notes to back it up at the end!) and draws the characters in a new light is nothing short of stunning. The portrayal of motherhood is raw and heartfelt, all while subtly highlighting the strengths (and weaknesses) of women. 
10/10, no notes, just praise for this book! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Grief, Murder, Death, Sexism, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Violence, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Torture, Toxic relationship, Gore, and Infidelity

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Genocide, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Body horror, Emotional abuse, War, and Sexual content

Minor: Sexual violence, Slavery, Alcohol, and Mental illness

TW List: FMC dies several times, is burned/tortured, describes pregnancy/childbirth/loss of children, MMC is tortured, and several other instances of body gore.

caelfind's review

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Death, Kidnapping, and Violence

ruthmoog's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

4.75

I loved this, the eddas and mythology are so strange and bat-shit but quite difficult. This retelling takes all the bizarreness of the mythology and makes it feel real and gives context to the interactions between the realms.
I have especially found Loki a hard one to understand, and Angrboda's perspective made him come to life as a character, it's brilliantly told.

My knowledge of the sagas and eddas isn't enough to know if anything is "creatively authored", but I understand there is Viking age ideas included as well, but from what I was familiar with it all clicked. (I do not know about the Marvel universe portrayals).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Torture, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: War, Sexual content, Miscarriage, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, and Body horror

midnightcomets's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

4.5

Books that deal with the old religions just have a way of touching your soul in ways that are so profound and painful in the best way possible. This was slow but also so packed with emotion, so full of possibility and as faithful as it could be to many of the stories. This was also extremely feminist, powerful and bright, and made me cry multiple times. If you like Circe, but wish to stray away from Greek mythology, please pick this up. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Gore, Sexual content, and Torture

redheadorganist's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Abandonment, Animal death, Grief, Blood, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Torture, and War

Minor: Sexual content

scifi_rat's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Pregnancy, Violence, Sexual content, and Torture

katiemack's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

• 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? Yes

3.5

The first twenty or so pages are tough to get through, and some of the dialogue is clumsy at best. (I actually ended up abandoning the physical book to listen to the audiobook, which I'd highly recommend for the fun accents. I also think the dialogue works better when listening to rather than reading this.) I wasn't expecting Angrboda's cave to feel like such a warm gathering place--at least, in the first part of the book--and I was pleasantly surprised by the coziness of it all. Readers who know more about Norse mythology might take issue with the way the characters are depicted, but I enjoyed learning more about the lore in an accessible way; this made me want to read more about the subject. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy and Violence

Minor: Sexual content

ka_ke's review against another edition

I don’t mind slow pacing, but I can’t stand reading about pregnancy for chapters on end. I would recommend avoiding this book if you have no desire to experience pregnancy, childbirth or parenthood. 

What could have been a story of adventure, romance and diversity  turned into a book about women becoming mothers simply because that was expected of them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Blood, Pregnancy, Body horror, Miscarriage, and Misogyny

Moderate: Xenophobia

Minor: Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Sexual content, and Stalking

addyisnothere's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Sexual content, Death, Death of parent, Violence, War, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Blood, Alcohol, and Torture

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Murder