Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese

27 reviews

oceanwriter's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

I'll be honest. I wanted to read this book because the cover is gorgeous. I paid minimum attention to the synopsis until later when I was discussing it with the person I ended up buddy-reading it with. Once I fully realized what it was about and where it was set, I was 100% sold.

Isobel and her husband, Edward, immigrate from Scotland to Salem, Massachusetts sometime in the early 1800s. They aren't together here long as Edward soon joins a ship crew and leaves Isobel behind to fend for herself. She's not without a trade, fortunately, and is a talented seamstress. But are her talents the result of something that could ultimately put her life in danger?

While Edward is away, Isobel forges a friendship with none other than Nathaniel Hawthorne. Both of them are haunted by their pasts and lineage. This common bond draws them to one another.

I enjoyed this a lot, though I could be biased as I can consider it a local story. I do think I would have gotten a lot more out of the story if I had first read The Scarlet Letter. One thing I still can't figure out is the significance of the italicized sections of the book. I understand the connection between the characters portrayed here and the protagonists, but they fizzle out toward the end. I personally found it more confusing than an aid in the progression of the story.

This is the first time I've read a book that involves a character with synesthesia. So fascinating. It added a lot to Isobel's character and made the story richer. The descriptions were fantastic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Infidelity, and Slavery

Moderate: Physical abuse, Violence, and Xenophobia

Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, and Abortion

miss_vonnegut's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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 was such a beautifully written book. I don't usually listen to fiction audiobooks, but I'm so glad I listened to this one. (Thank you to libro.fm and the publisher for the ARC!) I'm sure reading the physical book would have been great as well, but if you're looking for a good fictional audiobook, I would highly recommend this. I love that this novel is set in the 1800s (with some flashbacks to the 1600s) and deals explicitly with racism and sexism. I'm a white woman and it's entirely possible that I missed things but, to me, it read as intersectionally feminist, with women supporting each other and acknowledging the ways that racism and sexism intersect to affect black women differently. Very lite spoiler:

As a heads up, the main character (a white woman) is not fully aware of all the impacts of racism at the start of the book and she learns as it progresses.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Slavery

Moderate: Drug abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Abortion, and Pregnancy

Minor: Death of parent and Colonisation

tacoshark's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

4.5

I listened to this while knitting on my massive shawl and it was a wonderful way to consume this story. It’s a fascinating book, really rooted in history and place, to the extent that I found myself looking up locations in Salem for context. There were a few slightly laggy moments, but overall I thought was was really beautifully done and it was excellently read, too. I’ve never actually read the Scarlet Letter, but now I might need to. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity, Miscarriage, Slavery, Violence, Grief, and Pregnancy

katisreading's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.75

Such an interesting take on a story I haven’t thought about since high school. And so SAD. I think it did a great job, but I’m really mixed up about my feelings reading it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, and Religious bigotry

erynlasbelin's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Slavery, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Injury/Injury detail

torturedreadersdept's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

gretel7's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad medium-paced

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

3.5

An interesting read.  This gives a new twist to Hawthorne's classic.  And 'what if' Hester Prynne told her own story, this might be it.  

The writing has great flow, tragic characters and it was riveting that Synesthesia was used to help tell the story.

3.5☆

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Death of parent, and Abandonment