Reviews tagging 'Violence'

When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

11 reviews

fiddleysticks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Sexism, Violence, and Cancer

hannahpings's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

3.75

didn't really grip me until the third act, which was wonderful––and retrospectively enhanced the first and second, closing a loop and tying off a careful and intricate knot that barnhill began on dragons' first page. some strong craftmanship and a remarkably well-earned emotional payoff that i'm not ashamed to say made me weep.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Misogyny, Cancer, Grief, Abandonment, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Sexism

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Alcohol

Minor: War and Violence

mamaewalk's review

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring medium-paced

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

4.5

Creative, unique, and utterly badass story. Reads like a memoir. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gaslighting, Abandonment, Death of parent, and Misogyny

Minor: Cancer, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Grief, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, War, Fire/Fire injury, and Panic attacks/disorders

revonue's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence and Abandonment

jennmichelle_otsr's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.75

I really did love this read, but something is keeping me from giving it five stars. Some of the imagery in the second half made me want to grab my sketchbook because Ms. Barnhill painted some vivid pictures with her words. I think ultimately the reason I am giving it a 4.75 is because at points the main messages got a little more heavy-handed than was needed. It is a beautiful story. It made me laugh, cry, and made me get angry at points (I’m looking at you, Mr. Green.). Good stories do that. They also make you look back at things when they pop up later. Strong threads go throughout this entire tale. Blending in history with the fantasy was a stroke of genius.  It will probably be among my top reads of 2024 when all is said and done because I really did enjoy it. I want to read some of the author’s YA books now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Cancer, Infidelity, Sexism, Terminal illness, and Violence

The prom sequence gets a little graphic when it is finally spelled out what happens during a dragoning.

rachel101's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.5

This book was slow to start but definitely worth staying with, I was completely lost in it and couldn’t put it down…

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Content Warnings

Minor: Violence, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Bullying, Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Panic attacks/disorders

micaelacccc's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

This book means so much to me, it speaks to what our world could be if we only cared for one another and took care of each other, if we only let ourselves experience the freedom we want so badly. Beautiful beautiful writing, I loved it.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Sexism, Abandonment, Grief, and Violence

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Cancer

arthur_pendrgn's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense slow-paced

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

5.0

 A novel rich in allegory and capable of being interpreted through various social lenses. Barnhill isn't shy about her agenda, but then neither were Orwell, Atwood, Heller, Vonnegut, or Huxley. And of those, only Atwood gave her characters depth. Barnhill's characters are as flat as Orwell and Vonnegut's. This book burns, but the reader can select the burning issue. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, and Violence

percys_panda_pillow_pet's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

This book gave me trauma, and I'm only half-joking. Okay, for real though, When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill cracked open a lot of feelings and thoughts I've had all my life and especially now as an adult as I try to explore exactly who I am in this world. This book is about identity, it is about trauma, it is about rage, it is about so much more than you can put into words. 

When Kelly Barnhill wants you to believe in something, she puts her whole soul into it. By the end of this book, I was convinced that dragoning was real, and wondering why I couldn't dragon myself away, or even if I could. I know at times her metaphor can fall apart at the seams, but that's honestly what helped ground it for me. These are dragons, these are women. Dragoning can mean everything and it can mean nothing, though the latter would be unusual. Pretty much every time, that meaning made me want to cry. Often, I did cry while reading this book. And after finishing it too. It struck a chord in me so forcefully: the depiction of female generational trauma and the mixing of rage and sadness and hurt and unfairness and love one can have for their mother. 

At times, I was a bit frustrated with Barnhill's decisions throughout the book. I needed a bit more about trans people and what dragoning meant for them, and I know I am not alone in feeling like the intersectional aspects of feminism were a bit lacking, though in some ways that seems par for the course of the 50s and 60s.  This book filled me with emptiness at the lack of catharsis in some areas. There was a lot of build up and not enough resolution for me at times. Which, in some ways, feels perfect for the messiness of life, that truthfully we don't often get the catharsis we need. But I disliked the hollowness and in the end, I felt dissatisfied and want to scream, "Why?" and "It isn't fair!"

Do not look to this book to heal you, it will wring you dry. I can't wait for the day I will reread this, and pick things apart more. And maybe by then I'll have actually settled on a star rating for this book. For now, I leave that empty. This book is too much for me now. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Cancer, Death of parent, Abandonment, Grief, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, and Sexism

Moderate: Sexual assault, Body shaming, Violence, Outing, Sexual harassment, Rape, Child abuse, and Confinement

Minor: Gun violence, Transphobia, Sexual violence, Murder, Alcohol, Alcoholism, War, and Drug use

sarahholliday's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

Despite uneven pacing, this book is a beautiful meditation on female rage and the society-wide implications of shame and silence. The beautiful writing revealed a thoughtful story filled with wonderfully complex and nuanced characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Abandonment, Grief, Cancer, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Violence