Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Weyward by Emilia Hart

131 reviews

booksemmahasread's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Child death, Death, Grief, and Abandonment

cha_len_novels's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad

4.0

“Weyward, they called us, when we would not submit, would not bend to their will. But we learned to wear the name with pride.”
― Emilia Hart, Weyward

Are we all not a bit weyward? For life is never a gentle tale to those deemed 'uncanny' (..or female).

**Bonus quote
“We never thought of ourselves as witches, my mother and I. For this was a word invented by men, a word that brings power to those who speak it, not those it describes.”
― Emilia Hart, Weyward

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

norahhm's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

The prose was very beautiful and raw at points, particularly in the perspective of Kate, describing her experience with domestic abuse. But much of Violet and Altha’s stories are told in a way that feels very young adult, which felt discordant with the very violent and emotional content…like the quote on the front “they call us witches…we call ourselves weyward” was so Wattpad lmao.

I didn’t think the witch theme was explored enough for the amount of suspense built up throughout the book about what that entailed…I think delving more into the ways the women used their powers aside from just punishing the men would have better served the message the author seemed to be sending about finding empowerment from within—rather than from a man. Because the culmination of each woman’s journey was finding their power through hurting abusers, it decentered their personal journeys to emancipation and refocused the way they found freedom on the involvement of men.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, and Car accident

Minor: Cursing and Forced institutionalization

bookforthought's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

Let me start by saying that there should be so many trigger warnings for this book, as virtually every conceivable bad thing happens to women, and some scenes are quite vividly depicted and can be graphic. I have listed some content warnings, but I'm sure there may be some I've missed as so many things happen throughout the book. Please be mindful of your own wellbeing before approaching this.

Weyward was a slow start for me but eventually it drew me in and kept me going to the end, even though I contemplating abandoning this fairly early on. I listened to this in audiobook and the narrators do a great job keeping the three POVs distinct, something which might not have worked quite as well if I'd only read this. I liked how the three storylines came together in the end, tying up all the loose knots and having the story come full circle. The author definitely shows a lot of potential for a debut, with vivid descriptions of the natural world and the settings carrying most of the book.

The underlying themes of female resilience and embracing one's true nature and self were interesting (albeit not innovative) but they were slightly undermined by the magical realism element in my view, and came across as rather simplistic in their development and resolution. I would also have liked for the side characters to be better developed and nuanced, especially for a book ostensibly focused on the power of female relationships, as well as a larger focus on the good men in these women's lives. They absolutely didn't need to take centre stage, but it would have been nice to see some more attention being given to recognising their existence and support instead of sidelining them to focus almost exclusively and in excruciating detail on the (also one-note) men who wish to hurt the Weyward women.

Overall, an interesting read but not the most memorable book I've read on the topic. Perhaps my expectations were too high after all the hype surrounding this and I would have enjoyed it more had I expected less… still worth a read if you're curious about it though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Abortion, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Gaslighting

Minor: Suicide attempt and War

purplexwidow's review against another edition

challenging dark inspiring 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

5.0

Very enjoyable read. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Blood, Medical trauma, Abortion, and Abandonment

Minor: Body horror, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, Religious bigotry, and Suicide attempt

somills's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.25

Went looking for cozy cottage-core witches, found 400 years of generational trauma. That one’s on me; I didn’t read the description especially closely.

This did absolutely nothing to restore (establish?) my faith in men, but it is a beautiful story of female resilience and connection to nature, and is the first book to make me cry in a while.

There was a really weird minute where I was very afraid that this book is anti-choice, but fortunately that’s not the takeaway here. 

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD CHECK THE CONTENT WARNINGS. I am very upset. Again, that one’s on me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Misogyny, and Abortion

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Infertility, Medical trauma, and Stalking

kshuler's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

Read content warnings before reading this book!

The writing: absolutely beautiful
The story: heartbreaking
The cover: gorgeous
The vibes: immaculate

Summary - women with the gift of magic get back at the men who wronged them and find strength in themselves and each other
I picked this book up randomly at a library book sale. It's not what I usually would choose for myself but I bought it because it was 50 cents and I loved the cover art. I had zero expectations before reading it. Don't go into this book expecting fantasy, it's historical fiction with a touch of magical realism that deals with a lot of sensitive topics. The story was extremely slow-paced. It felt like nothing was happening for half of the book but I didn't even care because the writing was so beautiful. I would read Emilia Hart's grocery list. At times it was so lovely the way she described the garden, noting the bird and insect sounds, the sway of the breeze, the sunlight. At other times it was so hauntingly, heartbreakingly vivid when she described the tragic things happening to her characters.
I certainly would not recommend this to just anyone, considering the subject matter, genre, and pace.
Will this be everyone's cup of tea? No. Was it mine? Hell yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Mental illness, Misogyny, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, and Murder

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Incest, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and War

piebelly's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Gaslighting

Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Infertility, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Stalking, Car accident, and War

izzyrbell's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Abortion, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

basil_touche's review against another edition

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? Yes

3.0

I wasn't quite sure I'd enjoy this when I started listening to it, but it turns out I found it engaging, if a little repetitive with the descriptions (you could make a shot game out of the times that kate's heart pounds). 

I like that with the audiobook the three women were narrated by three different narrators; helped them feel like distinct characters. Altha was my favourite. Her voice felt very of the period (1619), and her personality felt very distinct from Violet and Kate. The way that their stories linked up over the centuries was well done, though perhaps a tad too contrived at points (especially how Violet is linked with a certain event in the last chapter). The book is filled with heavy subject matter, but I think that it is treated with care. Fair warning that it does get very graphic at times. I did feel that most of the antagonists were a bit one note/dimensional

with the exception of Fredrick

(a little like the man bad woman good trope, this book can get a bit gender essentialist at times)

I'm not sure if I'm fully happy with how all their plot threads end

(The fact they feel like their obligated to carry on the Weyward legacy by getting pregnant bothered me, especially in regards to Altha, just kinda robbed her of some of her agency)

, although I do like how understated the magical elements are, how it's mainly a connection to the animals and insects.

Overall I enjoyed this, probably won't read it again or other books similar to it. Kinda feels like if you've read one, you've read them all

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Stalking, Abortion, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Alcoholism, Miscarriage, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Minor: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, War, and Injury/Injury detail