Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young

47 reviews

mary_stormageddon's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

This is an incredibly beautiful story. I fell in love with the island, the magic, and the mystery that surrounded everything. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Child abuse

Minor: Domestic abuse and Abandonment

hellodebbies's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

Fall in love with the book and the MC, I read the book in one sitting and while I can understand why people didn't like it, I certainly loved it ! The way the grief was portrayed was so good and the mystery in itself was quite interesting thanks to the fantastic side of the book. If you don't read a lot of mystery book I think you will enjoy this one as much as I did 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Murder, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Cancer

beamsreads's review

dark emotional mysterious 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? No

5.0

I loved this! It was so moody and dark. The setting was everything. The mystery kept me hooked. Absolutely recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Death of parent

Moderate: Physical abuse, Gun violence, and Domestic abuse

slvt4b00ks's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

3.5

I read this book very fast so I would say I was invested in how things turned out but the only wow factor was really the twist at the end.  The author does paint a very vivid picture with beautiful words which I can appreciate, but I just felt like it fell flat.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Violence, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Cancer, Death, Drug use, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Murder, Gaslighting, Police brutality, and Pregnancy

yruss972's review

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

More a mystery book than anything else. Similar to Harlan Coben books- mystery from the past comes to light in the present.
Very little magic involved.
Pseudo-suspenseful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Violence, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Pregnancy

crystalsparkles's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Really slow start, probably was expecting something different but was pleasantly surprised. Think romance, murder/ mystery with more than a sprinkling of magic ✨

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Content Warnings

Minor: Domestic abuse

ravenwolf_waf's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

Review on my IG -> @Katie_the_Wandering_Reader

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Gun violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, and Murder

Minor: Cancer, Domestic abuse, and Pregnancy

robin_reads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Murder, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, and Kidnapping

ashleyelizabeth's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

3.5

Way too many cliff-hangers for my liking. Not every single chapter needs a cliff-hanger, it doesn’t flow right. 
Pretty good story. I didn’t like the end though. I love the soul-binding love and all the witchcraft. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Murder, and Child abuse

el393way's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-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? No

2.0

This book is to magical realism what La Croix is to flavor. For some people that’s enough, but for others it way too faint. This book is marketed as magical realism but is really just a slight thriller with like maybe 10 pages of light magic thrown in at the end and a loose sprinkling of hinting at witchy vibes throughout. It feels like someone spent a fall trip in Salem and got inspired by tarot and palm reading and spell book aesthetic. They were inspired to write a book but relocated to closer to Salem, Oregon.

This blood bonded love story that’s supposed to be so compelling is just pretty ho-hum. Their whole relationship happened 14 years ago and they hardly interact in modern times but we’re supposed to believe in their connection. It’s not bad but I felt pretty indifferent to it. High school, first loves feel pretty silly and not so serious. So the fact that we only really see then interact a bit as teenagers makes me want to roll my eyes and act like the old person I am not, telling them they’ll get over their first lost love.

Overall, I guess this book would have been FINE if it was just a cold case, ancestral politics, mild thriller without any magical elements. But I spent 75-80% of the book waiting for something other than plain old fiction to happen. Even with the tiny bit of magic I got, the ending was so incredibly unsatisfying. I appreciate the attempt at a twist/reveal that is not already done to death. But again, it happens so quickly and then you’re left to deal with a very quickly executed wrap up that doesn’t feel satisfying. Plus you get some super random extra characters thrown in and info-dumping loose ends.

I think this book falls victim to the over-explanation that can be common with first person narration.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, and Death