Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

The Ghost Woods by C.J. Cooke

8 reviews

ellenigrace's review

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dark emotional mysterious

4.5

Great plot and great Gothic vibes but I struggled to differentiate between the dual timelines because the narrators' voices were so similar.
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camelia_martin's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

Finished this book in around 8 hours! It was gripping for a while, then it started becoming a bit boring like the plot building was taking too long.. then suddenly - bang, a revelation to keep you hooked
I really thought Mabel was a ghost until finding out she’s alive in the shed!

Those little revelations really kept the intrigue, and the way the seemingly unlinked characters and their lives became interlinked was incredible. 
I had a gut feeling about how Mabel was pregnant and despite turning out to be correct I was still shocked by the way it was revealed. 
I feel like Wulfie’s storyline was a bit rushed at the end - I really wanted to feel more for his character. The hints
like him slipping up and calling his “grandad” dad a few times
were great foreshadowing. 

I will say I didn’t find it scary, though I don’t find horror/thriller or gothic horror books to be scary anyway, but I did find myself reading faster and faster as I hit the last 100 pages. 

Mrs W’s situation was predictable
they mentioned the cordyceps taking over a host body so many times throughout the book, and her few sudden flips in behaviour couldn’t have been due to a personality disorder, so her being taken over by the curse woman was obvious


Overall though an enjoyable book that kept me wanting more! 
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dungareece's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

I can’t even begin to express how much I fell in love with the women in this book. Their stories, their strengths, their vulnerabilities. I am so not ready to leave their world behind. 

It is deliciously gothic and eerie with the suitably damp, dark and mushroom infested setting of a secluded Scottish mansion, Lichen Hall. Lichen Hall doubles as a mother and baby home for unwed mothers. The history of which I was only vaguely aware of prior to reading this book. 

I adore a book with multiple narrators, and CJ Cooke is so wonderful at braiding seemingly unrelated narratives together in the  most intricate ways. This book is the perfect love letter to women and being othered from society. Beautifully sad stories of motherhood and queerness are intertwined with a wonderful sprinkling of magic. A full on rollercoaster of emotions, I had moments of being in tears followed by moments of kicking my feet in joy. 

Ps I have never cried at an authors note before so that was new
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louisegraveyard's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

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josie_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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snazzyrhombus's review

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

1.0

kind of hated this i'm sorry cj cooke,, the premise was really strong but i feel like it just flopped. very cringey read with a lot of painfully predictable or weird and out of place twists and turns
like the stupid note saying 'help me' actually made me giggle. also (i'm a lesbian fyi) i feel like the queer relationships here are super forced and unrealistic,, i hate when writers/filmmakers can't decide whether to let the gays live in peace and create a homophobia-free universe or to suggest homophobia is a worrying factor and just sit somewhere in the middle, in this case where they're all worried about being found out but also don't even panic much at all when they are found out bu their friends who also turn out to be gay....? i also feel like in this era it would take a lot more to figure out you're gay but idk i wasn't around in the 50s/60s so i don't even know
 

anyway yeah just read mexican gothic instead very similar premise but a lot better
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tamara_joy's review

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Very creepy, very... fungal.
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kimbekaw's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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