Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Weyward by Emilia Hart

306 reviews

yesenianais's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

adriii521'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? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child death, Confinement, Death, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Murder, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Minor: Cancer, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Vomit, and War

sloanemontesi's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Help. This book has done things to me, to my psyche. It’s incredible.

Maybe it has to do with the fact I’ve recently read a few others with witches, or the complex relationship I have with my own mother (who doesn’t?), or the fact that I’m an eldest daughter, or the fact my period came while reading it. I DON’T KNOW.

All i know is that I spent almost every free moment I had reading this from the moment I began. I tore through it in two days. It’s beautiful, complex, reflective - a true, raw description of the divine feminine free of pretension. I will proselytize this book to the women I love as best I can.

Weyward is not only to be read, it is to be considered, digested, inhaled. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Confinement, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, and Car accident

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Murder, and Alcohol

spellbindingtomes's review

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

m3tiss's review

dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage

Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape, Abortion, and Murder

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Vomit

brookes95's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

emccoy89's review

challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Suicide, Abortion, Murder, and Pregnancy

tamara_joy's review

emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Moderate: Confinement, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Animal death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, War, and Classism

nyxofterra's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

I could barely put this book down until it was finished. I am very glad to have read this story!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Interested reader, don't be scared away by the large number of content warnings (or do, only you know how to care for yourself the best); sometimes the narrative path is worthy of, and requires the discomfort and emotion attached to these content topics. Weyward is the stronger for them - they add depth.

dafne_lh's review

dark sad medium-paced

3.25

I have very mixed feelings about this book, making this a loooooooong review.

Firstly, it should have come with a lot of trigger warnings. Secondly, the storylines are just too dark for me. I understand what the author was trying to do here, to show the horrors that women have faced and still face today. This is a very important topic which should be discussed in books. However, I felt like there was no hope or chance at a better future at all. If anything, the story portrays a cycle that continues for multiple generations. A cycle that cannot be broken. Nearly every woman in this book has been hurt by a man, and those who have not have lost their husband (Kate’s mother) or their child (Emily). There also only seem to be two decent men in the book, and both of them are from the Weyward line. 

There were some things that I just cannot wrap my head around.

Kate’s mother seemingly loving her and knowing she was being abused, but not doing anything about it. What kind of mother does that? Then there was the idea of Simon, Violet’s father, and Frederick all being “bewitched” by the Weyward women. As if they were cursed and it was because of their weirdness/being witches that they end up in these cycles of abuse. Honestly, that presented such a bad message for me and made the whole reading experience so uncomfortable. Let alone all the mentions of mental, physical, and sexual abuse as well as unwanted pregnancies, stillbirths, miscarriage and abortions. Again, this book should have had a load of trigger warnings.

All I knew before reading this book was that it was supposed to be a historical fiction, following three women of the same family throughout time. But the plot got predictable so fast. We all knew Altha was

going to survive, because if Violet and Kate are Weywards, who else would they descend from?

. When it comes to Violet, as soon as Frederick came into the mix, I also knew what would happen here. Simon

returning and finding Kate was also quite obvious, but is it truly hopeful to see Kate take her revenge by having the birds attack him as he is strangling her? This happens to women in real life all the time. They do not have magic to call upon to help them when they are in need. Emily and the police arrive too late in this story. They would have been too late if Kate wasn’t a witch.

As you can tell, I have issues with this book and I cannot say it was an enjoyable read, even if I would be able to recommend it to some of my friends because of the greater societal issues this book brings to the foreground. To me, this read more like a horror story than anything else.

When it comes to the actual writing, I think it is beautiful prose, especially considering this is the author’s debut novel. I also got attached to the three main characters, but I did not feel like there was enough character growth. Throughout the story, I kept going back to the concept of freedom, and what it meant for these women. They all had a connection to nature, which is also the basis of their witchcraft, an element which I absolutely love, but I cannot see how any of them was truly free, not even Kate.

Yes, she finally is able to live without Simon and raise her daughter, but honestly, that daughter was born out of an abusive relationship where Kate was being raped. I feel there would be a lot of potential mental issues down the line connected to that.

All in all, I think this book is an eye-opening book for some, which discusses important societal themes and the history of women. However, I cannot say I would ever want to read this book again, despite its beautiful prose and strong one-liners.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Abortion, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Sexual violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Vomit, Murder, Alcohol, and War