Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - Cackle

Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Cackle by Rachel Harrison

7 reviews

cavefly's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad 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

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egarlock's review against another edition

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dark hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

2.5

This is not a good book. 2.5 stars because good and enjoyable aren’t the same thing. It’s fine as a piece of fluff, I guess, but it’s trying to make a big feminist statement and largely fails. When I say trying, I really mean bludgeoning. Don’t get me wrong, I love witchcraft as feminist allegory. I think everyone should read Once and Future Witches. This author probably could benefit from therapy though. The protagonist starts off as a sad sack serial monogamist wallowing after agreeing to a mutual breakup she doesn’t want. Annie moves upstate where she meets the mysterious and empowered Sophie who supposedly shows her the path to self actualization and independence. Here be spoilers [The problem here is that Sophie is secretive and emotionally manipulative AF. Sophie is just as bad as the mediocre white dude Annie is sulking about, possibly worse. There is a thread of distrust and unease through the entire novel and had the author followed that to show Sophie as a toxic friend before eventually having Annie find her own power in some ending reminiscent of The Craft, this could have been a good book. Instead, we are told that Annie realizes she doesn’t need Sophie anymore, but she decides she still wants her in her life. I 100% do not believe that Annie can function without her fucked up codependence with Sophie. Also, the lesson is that being a single independent woman is the only path to self actualization and it creates a power that men and society will fear. I don’t think any woman needs to be romantically paired, but this is incredibly trite and reductive. It’s really a shame because this book had so much potential.]

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carlybellesbooks's review against another edition

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dark funny lighthearted mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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emilywemily6's review against another edition

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dark lighthearted mysterious 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

4.25

For a light, spooky read for the season, this book had more depth than I expected. This book is about a character’s experience and growth rather than plot, and I found it really interesting with lots of insights actually. It was more gorey/graphic than I expected too (the curses were very creative). It took a while for the witchiness to really get introduced, so it had a slower start but the pacing picked up throughout the book. I appreciated how Annie’s perspective of her relationship with Sam changed over time; not a fan of him. I was disappointed that the co-dependent/slightly toxic nature of this friendship wasn’t really addressed beyond the one conflict at the end of the book, as we didn’t really get closure about how Annie chose to act morally in the long run. I appreciated the themes of empowerment though, and the vibes of this were perfect for October!

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