Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Weyward by Emilia Hart

198 reviews

dreaminthepages's review

dark emotional sad tense 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? No

4.0

Powerful, feminine story with beautiful descriptions of the natural world.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Abortion, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Death and Suicide attempt

styxx's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Car accident, Death of parent, and Abandonment

clairebartholomew549's review

dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.0

I really loved this book. It's dark and moody and vaguely mysterious, and the scene-setting is impeccable. I've always been intrigued by the Salem witch trials, and this retelling felt fresh and new and interesting. At its core, this is a story about men trying to control women and women breaking free of patriarchal expectations and realities. I rooted for Kate, Violet, and Altha, and I enjoyed each of their perspectives and didn't find myself itching to get back to one perspective (which I find rare in books with multiple timelines). I also deeply loved the depictions of nature and animals and attunement with the world.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Classism

icecreamsoldier's review

mysterious fast-paced

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

1.0

I really tried to like this book as I saw great reviews everywhere, however I think this book is my on my top worst books. There’s spoilers ahead :

The premise of the book is to tell women’s stories on different periods that are tied together not only for being women, but also related and witches. I enjoyed reading Altha and Violet (to an extent), however I found myself dreading whenever I had to read a chapter about Kate. I felt that her character was very one dimensional and it could have been interesting learning along Kate who Kate is, specially after loosing all of herself in an abusive relationship, however  we just get a very one dimensional Kate who is constantly stealing from her dead aunts closet and the only thing she can think about is the baby, (do it for the baby, the baby needs this, etc) and when her whole role is not being a pregnant woman she is just blatantly dumb. That tied with the fact that I don’t understand how Kate belongs to the witchcraft lineage as she is not the daughter of the first woman born but instead her father is Graham’s son who is Violet’s brother so she fits through this lineage because of men.
The other characters while their stories where more interesting and more developed I still had a lot of issues with them for instance this is supposed to be a book about feminism however Violet feels like “I am not like other girls” by bashing on other girls who wear skirts.
Altha on the other hand was my favorite character, and I really enjoyed her queer romance with Grace, however at the end she just gets the “seed” of a man just so that she can be pregnant and continue the lineage of women in her family (Which honestly as a lesbian woman it felt like a slap to the face). All of these stories really just made me feel as if a woman will only reach their true potential and be fulfilled through motherhood, as Altha the only queer character in the book gets pregnant, Violet who aborts her first daughter as it is from the conception of a rape even though she is very successful in her career and life she feels like something is missing and was the chance to be a mother (and it’s confusing why she could not have had another baby, since based on Kate’s story it is unclear whether the witches only the first women born, or is it all the women? What is wrong with having a boy and teaching them to be better? Or what about adoption or other sources of being a mother figure?), and Kate which the only thing she talks about is her pregnancy. 
The writing at times was overly decorated ranging from cliche phrases and absurd amount of insect metaphors (we get it all these women love insects). Finally this book while I understand that is telling the stories of women abused by men it felt like it fell under the spectrum of “all men are bad” and even the ones that weren’t like Graham they are defined as like “okay”. I am not saying we should give a cookie to every man that is not an abuser however I think this problem is not a problem that could be solved by segregation of the woman but instead of teaching men to be better

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, and Gaslighting

Minor: Forced institutionalization

bethaburn's review

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

karalyndawn's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Blood, Abortion, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Rape

librosdeunamestiza's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Abortion

Moderate: Incest, Miscarriage, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: War

szuum's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

jennswan's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Death of parent

katy_bee's review against another edition

dark inspiring mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.5

This grew on me as I read it. In the early chapters I felt a bit frustrated by the hints of what might happen or whether the women were really witches and I preferred it once it settled down and just started telling the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Blood, Vomit, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and War