Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Manningtree Witches by A.K. Blakemore

10 reviews

tsapparelli's review against another edition

dark informative sad medium-paced

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

3.0

A lot of the writing in this was really beautiful. I found it hard to put down. However I didn’t connect with the characters. I felt it was too surface level and didn’t delve into the characters’ thoughts and feelings enough.

I felt moved by the passage where Rebecca described what she imagines her mothers death would have been like, and I wish there was more of that in the rest of the book. I also found the ending where she finds Judith on the boat a bit unbelievable and it took me out of the story a bit.

But overall I thought this was a good book and I would read more by this author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Murder, Misogyny, Death of parent, Sexism, Death, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Violence

high_peak_price's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

Beautiful poetic writing. Evocative and brutal. From a female perspective I both found it very depressing and uplifting. Excellent 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Death of parent, Death, Religious bigotry, and Misogyny

quiet_reader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Murder, Blood, Alcohol, Animal death, Sexism, Confinement, Religious bigotry, Violence, and Child death

Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual content, Grief, Slavery, Trafficking, Torture, and War

fictionalatte's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

this book is a must-read, even if it isn’t one you’d normally reach for. 

the author also captured the story on numerous levels, which was evident by her volume of research and knowledge accompanying this novel. 

although the plot is heavy, the ending had positive notes which didn’t reflect the tone shown previously, it showed us a new journey for rebecca, one of which wasn’t darkened by her past life.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Confinement, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Blood

Moderate: Miscarriage, Gore, Grief, Torture, Medical content, Sexual content, Violence, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent

Minor: War and Slavery

anastasiamakes's review against another edition

challenging dark informative tense slow-paced

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

2.0

If you liked The Crucible, I think you'll like this. It follows a fictionalised account of real occurances and characters during the 'Witch Craze' of the English Civil War, and has a very "classic" style of writing - which didn't work for me but I'm sure some people would love. You can definitely tell the author is a poet.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Confinement, Religious bigotry, and Sexism

Moderate: Death of parent, Blood, Child death, Classism, and Terminal illness

Minor: Pregnancy, Suicide, War, Miscarriage, Slavery, Sexual content, and Animal death

amelreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Murder, Misogyny, Classism, Confinement, Medical content, Medical trauma, Trafficking, Violence, Torture, Religious bigotry, Racism, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: War and Child death

Minor: Miscarriage

rosalind's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Religious bigotry, and Death

Moderate: Colonisation, Sexual content, Child death, Miscarriage, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Cursing

Minor: Torture, War, Slavery, Excrement, and Suicide

emilyacres's review against another edition

dark tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Sexual content

clea's review

dark 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? No

4.25

Beautifully rich, lyrical (but also quite dark) prose; the author's roots in poetry are obvious and help to create an immersive and captivating atmosphere of 17th century Britain. Due to this high level of writing and heavy use of "advanced" vocabulary, it was a little difficult for me to read. After a while, I had to take breaks from reading because my concentration eventually started decreasing (but this is mainly due to the fact, that English is not my first language) and this prevented me from really getting involved, engaged in the story. 
But it is still a fascinating story that reports the atrocity of witch hunts. The use of dark humor helped to alleviate the tension and allow the reader a brief but longed-for escape from the horrors of the characters' reality. Every character is multi-faceted and we get a profound understanding of their actions and motivations. They feel authentic and I think that A.K Blakemore did a really great job at narrating her story in such a human way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Child death, Sexual content, and Torture

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, and Miscarriage

closelywatchedfilms's review

challenging 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Body shaming, Chronic illness, Infidelity, Rape, Slavery, and Trafficking