Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Weyward by Emilia Hart

97 reviews

amberreadsromance's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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? N/A

4.0

Unputdownable. I quickly became invested in the three women's stories. The writing is perfectly paced and beautifully rendered. I especially enjoyed Violet's story, though I thought the epilogue was a little long. This book is a love letter to the strength and resiliency of women with just the right touch of magic. My favorite aspect is how the Weywards and nature are closely connected and the interconnectivity and repeated themes of all their stories, from Altha's mother to Altha, Violet's grandmother, mother, herself, then Kate and her daughter. It made me want to wrap my mother, sister, and grandmothers in my arms. 
***I also appreciate the approach to abortion and a woman's right to choose.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Car accident, Abortion, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol

brookealdridge's review

dark inspiring mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment

lauren_drinkard's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Abortion

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

lorettoberg's review

dark sad tense medium-paced

2.0

too rapey

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Stalking, and Pregnancy

Minor: Abandonment

nialiversuch's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

cassie7e's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

This is the kind of story I hoped for from A Secret History of Witches - a winding tale of connected generations of witches. I think it's the focus on fewer individuals, the persistent nature theme and symbolism, and the nonlinear telling that makes this one work better for me. We get to see each woman all throughout the book instead of just being a string of beads we look at one by one, one after the other. The magic is also more ambiguous (but still there) than SHW, more of a magical realism feel like A Murmuring of Bees (one of my faves) than the historical realism vibe of SHW.

TW for Rape, sexual assault, pregnancy, abortion, domestic abuse

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Infertility, Miscarriage, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and War

opie_azvuc's review

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

0.25

3 Girls 1 Spine

I'm really concerned for the author of this book. I don't know if men did something to her, or she's just chronically online or something, but she HATES men so MUCH. Every single male character in this book is an absolute monster save exactly one who's only kind of okay until the very end where he's a hero. To be fair, two of the three "protagonists" are incredibly bad at it.

Misandry aside, this book is not that well written. Each chapter takes around 5-10 minutes to read and less than that in the first third or so of the book. Each chapter follows around one of three women in three completely different time periods and ends on a cliffhanger. The first few chapters are only around 6 pages each, so it's very jarring and disconnected and feels like the author may have written it while guzzling espresso and shooting cocaine.

The first person we follow is Altha, a woman accused of witchcraft in the 1600's and literally the only protagonist to have any sort of backbone or agency despite the face her situation is the most dire. She avoids prosecution and immolation and goes on to rescue the wife of an abusive husband by causing said abusive husband to be attacked by woodland creatures Loony Tunes style.

The second protagonist, Violet, is a sixteen year old girl with an abusive father and a brother off at boarding school during World War 2. Her cousin, a soldier, comes to stay with the family on leave, date rapes Violet, and the father finds out and sequesters her in this cabin in the woods where it turns out he had her mother interred there where all sorts of horrible things happened to her by men. She learns how to give herself an abortion using noxious weeds and realizes she has the power to chase her father away with woodland creatures Loony Tunes style.

The third protagonist is Kate in 2019 who is running from an abusive boyfriend she has been with for 5 years and has had multiple chances to get away from but chose not to until she decided to flee to the countryside, at no point contacting the police, battered women's shelter, lawyer, or anything that makes sense. She doesn't even bother to get a gun or ask any of her new acquiaintances to look out for her. When the boyfriend tracks her down because of the script, she realizes she also has the power to chase her boyfriend away with woodland creatures Loony Tunes style.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Abortion, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

angelicawdowning's review

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Classism

ouroboros_00's review

dark mysterious 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? No

2.0

I highly recommend checking the content warnings before reading! That said, I did think this was a beautifully written book about feminine power and the ancestral power of women as survivors of unending injustice at the hands of both men and society across time. I liked the magic and the way Hart employed it as a device for empowerment, but I kept wanting more of this and a little less of the misery. Yikes. I loved all the bugs! I loved the way Hart intertwined the three women and how she revealed information to the reader.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Blood, Vomit, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death and Suicide attempt

hampshark's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

This book is my new personality. Give me more stories centered around women and nature and finding your true self and your inner strength and your connectedness to others. Stunning cover, stunning audio. Read it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Abortion

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Vomit, and Pregnancy

Minor: Violence, Abandonment, War, and Classism