Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

The Ghost Woods by C.J. Cooke

22 reviews

lyndsayscan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror and Pregnancy

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Gore, Dementia, Animal death, and Rape

chrisscorkscrew's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Grief, Chronic illness, Dementia, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Abortion, Sexual violence, Rape, and Forced institutionalization

ellenigrace's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious

4.5

Great plot and great Gothic vibes but I struggled to differentiate between the dual timelines because the narrators' voices were so similar.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Pregnancy, Dementia, Confinement, Death, Rape, Blood, Grief, Animal death, and Body horror

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Car accident, Lesbophobia, Abortion, Infidelity, and Homophobia

camelia_martin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

4.0

Finished this book in around 8 hours! It was gripping for a while, then it started becoming a bit boring like the plot building was taking too long.. then suddenly - bang, a revelation to keep you hooked

I really thought Mabel was a ghost until finding out she’s alive in the shed!

Those little revelations really kept the intrigue, and the way the seemingly unlinked characters and their lives became interlinked was incredible. 
I had a gut feeling about how Mabel was pregnant and despite turning out to be correct I was still shocked by the way it was revealed. 
I feel like Wulfie’s storyline was a bit rushed at the end - I really wanted to feel more for his character. The hints

like him slipping up and calling his “grandad” dad a few times

were great foreshadowing. 

I will say I didn’t find it scary, though I don’t find horror/thriller or gothic horror books to be scary anyway, but I did find myself reading faster and faster as I hit the last 100 pages. 

Mrs W’s situation was predictable

they mentioned the cordyceps taking over a host body so many times throughout the book, and her few sudden flips in behaviour couldn’t have been due to a personality disorder, so her being taken over by the curse woman was obvious

Overall though an enjoyable book that kept me wanting more! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Animal death, Grief, Child abuse, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Dementia, Pregnancy, Rape, Child death, Classism, Death, Lesbophobia, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Sexism

dungareece's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I can’t even begin to express how much I fell in love with the women in this book. Their stories, their strengths, their vulnerabilities. I am so not ready to leave their world behind. 

It is deliciously gothic and eerie with the suitably damp, dark and mushroom infested setting of a secluded Scottish mansion, Lichen Hall. Lichen Hall doubles as a mother and baby home for unwed mothers. The history of which I was only vaguely aware of prior to reading this book. 

I adore a book with multiple narrators, and CJ Cooke is so wonderful at braiding seemingly unrelated narratives together in the  most intricate ways. This book is the perfect love letter to women and being othered from society. Beautifully sad stories of motherhood and queerness are intertwined with a wonderful sprinkling of magic. A full on rollercoaster of emotions, I had moments of being in tears followed by moments of kicking my feet in joy. 

Ps I have never cried at an authors note before so that was new

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Dementia, Grief, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Misogyny, and Rape

Moderate: Animal death and Vomit

Minor: Homophobia

louisegraveyard's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Pedophilia, Fire/Fire injury, Lesbophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Rape, Sexism, Gore, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

dogearedbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Grief, Pregnancy, Child death, Sexism, Animal death, Blood, and Rape

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Body horror

Minor: Car accident and Bullying

brittsuek's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy

Moderate: Death and Murder

Minor: Sexual assault, Confinement, Child abuse, Rape, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Child death, Cursing, Pedophilia, and Suicidal thoughts

what_heather_loves's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

"Did I dream it all? Or was my mind playing tricks on me? Things always seem different in the dark, especially a dark forest in the dead I night. Even more so an ancient wood that is full of gnarled, ghostly trees...
The truth is, I want to believe that I dreamed it all, I really do. It would be a hundred times easier than the alternative...A ghost, and unlike any ghost I've ever seen depicted in a film, or read of in a book.
Something unspeakably evil is stalkjng the grounds of Lichen Hall."

This historical and gothic thriller is set in two time-frames (1959 and 1965) in fictional Lichen Hall, in the Scottish borders. Protagonists Mabel and Pearl are pregnant and unmarried and have come to stay to give birth and have their babies adopted. There's an ancient woodland with spooky folkore, ever-encroaching fungus and creepy Mrs Whitlock to contend with, as the women's stays become a nightmare. Tackling themes of motherhood, patriarchy and slavery, it's beautifully written, making the characters feel real. I found it atmospheric and ominous, recommended in particular to fans of Laura Purcell and Stacey Halls.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery and Pregnancy

Moderate: Confinement, Misogyny, and Abandonment

Minor: Child abuse, Rape, and Abortion

full_kay's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.5

First part of the book was good - spooky, atmospheric… the ending was a mess 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Body horror and Rape