Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - Weyward

I hate when I have high hopes for a book after hearing all the hype + getting nominations (BOTM)/rewards (Goodreads) - that just doesn’t work for me. And I’m pretty basic. I did like the large majority of GR’s Choice Awards winners. This one wasn’t it.

We follow 3 women of the Weyward family line. Here I was like, great, cool! Strong witches from a long line of powerful women! Yeah… Althea is probably the only one who “owns” her power & likely because she’s the only one who knows their history. Her POV is also pretty jarring as it’s told in 1st person while Violet & Kate are told in 3rd. Eventually this makes sense as you get further into the book, but it takes until late in Part 2 (also not sure those were needed but… whatever).

I honestly liked Violet’s chapters the best. She was such a bright, inquisitive teenager who had to deal with hard tragic situations. Kate was, oh boy, Kate was rough. She also was dealt a shit hand in life. I just found myself getting annoyed with her and then annoyed at myself because her situation was not her fault, but damn girl, she needed therapy as a child. She needed Violet to BE THERE in her life damnit. It just made things so annoying as you find out more.

Wow this turned into a rant… I’m not saying this book is poorly written. It’s just not for me. I’m glad all these women found their inner power. Damn tho. Someone needed to step up to stop this generational trauma sooner.

Content Warnings

janeywaneyb's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

3.0

A tale of three women over three different time periods interwoven by being Weyward. The changing of character each chapter kept the story fresh and moving forwards, I wanted to get back to each of the three women and hear more of their story. The touches of historical moments is subtle but beautifully done. Fans of Stacey Halls would enjoy this novel as I felt similarities with The Familiars as I flew through the pages.

Content Warnings

kimveach's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.0

I had high expectations because this was the Goodreads Choice Awards Book of the Year (2023)—perhaps too high. It was a good book, but I felt the three good storylines were one too many. With stories set in the 1600s, 1940s, and the present day, the story constantly jumped around. If I had been able to read it in one sitting, it might have worked.

Content Warnings