Reviews with content warning for Body horror - Weyward

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Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

bec28's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

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racheldonna14's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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leximarie06's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

3.5

great story following 3 generations of “Weyward Women”. Each faced misery at the hand of men. Its a great feminist read, lots of empowerment. While it wasnt the most incredible story ever, it got the point across and kept my interest. I do wish they had done something more grand with Althas story, i felt it was a bit boring and lackluster in comparison to Kate and Violets story. I really liked the whole “switching between the characters/timelines” as it went on. I know lots of readers didnt like that because it was easy to get lost but if you follow along, i found it pretty easy to stay with and i felt it added a lot to the story actually.

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ccmhats's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

A bit gorier than I generally read, but such a satisfying, uplifting book in the end.

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marosq's review

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challenging dark hopeful informative inspiring 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? Yes

4.25

Fairly good job interweaving three protagonist POVs. I found the voices of each protag distinct, though having one POV in first person annoyed me until much later on the book when I realized why the author chose to do that. The book says a lot about the power and wildness of women, but the short segments that protested the term "witch" didn't really do a lot to separate the idea of women's wild power from witchcraft. Especially since one of the POVs endures a trial accusing her of murdering a man with witchcraft. Also felt that the majority of men in the novel were extremely underdeveloped, almost one-dimensional, in the service of displaying how women have suffered at men's hands. As such, the commentary on abuse, especially domestic violence and the lack of structure in place to amplify the voices of survivors, doesn't feel very original or sage; more direct confrontation would have needed to take place between the sufferers and the system for that to be the case. I realize that Violet and Altha were speaking with the mindset of their social upbringings, but I wished that I could have seen Kate engage more deeply and introspectively with the "Why did I allow it? How did this happen? How can I make sure it never happens again?" line of thought. (Kate's mother particularly enraged me with the "I'm your mother, I sensed it, I should have done XYZ" hand flailing) There was an opportunity to bring the story full circle from Altha's "How could I not have seen this happening?" to Violet's "Was it my fault somehow?" to what could have been a powerful, contemporary statement from Kate: "This doesn't happen in a vacuum, survivors aren't weak, and healing isn't linear."

Would also have loved to feel a stronger, more believable sibling relationship between Violet and Graham, and to have seen Kate have any other positive male presence in her life but her father's. Altha concerned me a little, being written as covertly queer; the lack of strong secondary characters in her story made her strained relationship with Grace feel sort of unmoored and surface-level, which then gave the whole situation around Grace and her husband's death an oddly hollow resolution.

Altogether I liked Kate's story best, and having Violet's story framed inside it was a good narrative device. I'm still not sure I agree with how Altha's story is set up, but she had some of the better one-liners and revelations in the entire book. Particularly loved "A great many things look different from a distance. Truth is like ugliness: you need to be close to see it." The thread of generational trauma woven with the thread of legacy and power was interesting, and I had a fantastic time with the depictions of the wild coming alive for each woman. Would recommend.

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julesdmuells's review

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dark emotional sad fast-paced

2.5

There's a lot to like about this book, chief among them the glittering diction and fluttering background characters, the bugs and the birds. But I grew frustrated with it.

I was surprised at how little I felt like I knew or cared by one third, one half, two thirds of the way through. For instance, this is a book about witches, and it says so on the cover; yet two thirds of the way through this book, a main character (who's a witch) is starting to connect the dots about her special abilities, and then it says, "Anyway, she was being ridiculous. Witches weren't real." Man, and I thought the book was finally about to start.
Another reviewer said that although she felt sympathy for the characters - CONTENT WARNING: almost every woman in this book is raped and unwillingly impregnated, usually miscarrying or aborting - she didn't necessarily feel attached to them, and I feel the same. I just kept wondering when it would feel like the plot was starting.

My biggest gripe, honestly, was the writing style. Contemporary fiction is often written to reflect the way people talk, even if it's not proper writing, sure, but the amount of short, choppy, incomplete sentences in this book drove me crazy once I noticed the pattern.
"Then she knows. She didn't imagine it. It was real... Early childhood. Sun on her face, the brush of wings on her palm, that feeling in her chest... She squeezes her eyes shut, tries to pull it closer, but she can't bring it into focus. Somehow, though, she is left with the odd sense that this has happened before. The villagers' gossip echoes in her mind. One word, ringing louder than the rest. Witch. She has to know the truth. About the Weywards. About herself."
So isochronal and choppy, like riding with a driver who keeps hitting the gas and the breaks in heavy traffic.

I have to admit, although it's harder to articulate what I liked about the book, it wasn't hard for me to pick back up and read. When I got into the weeds in a different read and felt leaden, I would turn to this because I knew the pages would turn quickly.

I don't get the hype, y'all.

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ashley_mrose530's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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

2.5

This was a really well written book, but I just don't think it was for me.
I can't remember why I put this on my tbr shelf, but I definitely should have read the synopsis again before trying it out.
This was very similar to The Apothecary, a book I DNF'd in 2023 I believe. They both had the back and forth timeline between different characters who lived at different times and somehow they connect and they also both focused heavily on female empowerment after oppression and abuse with an added magical element.
These types of books are very much the tip of the iceberg when it comes to feminism which some people do need, but that's not me. They also make it very obvious that's what they're about and I prefer plots like that to be more subtle and make you think a little more deeply.
Because of all of this, I was mostly bored with the whole book. I also guessed all of the supposed mysteries right away. Although I don't think they were really mysteries at all because they were so obvious. But still, I felt like I knew the whole book before I ever read a word of it.
Unfortunately it was a largely forgettable book for me and I definitely should have DNF'd it.

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ineedrhythm's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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allieryanreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Ultimately a story of resilience among three Weyward women of different eras. This was good but also very sad throughout (and most of the men just were horrible). So make sure you’re in the right frame of mind before reading!

I’ll definitely try the Sirens when it comes out.

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