Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young

32 reviews

krystlethegreat's review against another edition

dark 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? No

4.25

Adding 0.25 for great audio narration by a cast of narrators.

Definitely atmospheric. Loved the setting and feel of the location. I great up on Puget Sound and ferries and can totally picture this little island that tourists flock to, but that is draped in magic and mystery. 

Looking through the lense of our main characters, I can see how we have such limited information. 
As a reader, I felt like, since we had multiple points of view, we should have known our older generation characters better.

Overall, a great cozy, atmospheric mystery/thriller that will keep you guessing without giving you anxiety.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Toxic friendship, and Physical abuse

Minor: Drug use

stagemanaginger's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.0

I enjoyed it! I feel like people describing the vibe of it as Gilmore Girls meets mystery made me think it would be cozy? I wouldn’t say this is a proper cozy read. That being said, I really enjoyed it and watching the mystery unravel. I wish there was more explicit witchiness throughout the whole story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Violence, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

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

lexisnovelust's review

mysterious 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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical 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

heatherjchin's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Suicide, Death of parent, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, Self harm, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Animal death, Death, and Alcohol

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

Minor: Gun violence, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Cannibalism, and Child abuse

bakunzi1990's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Damn this isn't my normal type of read at all. But this was so amazing. The setting was my favorite following closely with the writing. The World building was top notch and also extremely believable. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Physical abuse

Minor: Pregnancy and Stalking

kenziburke's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse

Moderate: Murder

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