Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Weyward by Emilia Hart

73 reviews

nialiversuch's review against another edition

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

cassie7e's review

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

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

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

opie_azvuc's review against another edition

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

angelicawdowning's review against another edition

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

ouroboros_00's review against another edition

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

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

Minor: Animal death and Suicide attempt

hampshark's review

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

Moderate: Child abuse, Vomit, Confinement, and Pregnancy

Minor: Violence, Classism, War, and Abandonment

nadijya's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Rape, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Violence, Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Miscarriage, Grief, Gaslighting, Confinement, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Death, Child abuse, Abortion, Car accident, Blood, Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, and Abandonment

britlovestoread's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

4.0

Okay so my toxic trait is taking forever to get through a book and considering not finishing it multiple times and constantly pushing through and forcing myself to keep reading but then I get to the end and things start falling into place and suddenly it feels like such an amazing book and I almost forget or decide to completely disregard the struggle it took me to get through the rest of the book.
I swear I do this all the time and still rate the book 4-5 stars.

That was the case with this book, just FYI. But everything tied together in the end and it was so dark and heavy and alsp beautiful. I cried so it's fine I'm balancing my rating between 3 and 5 stars and going with 4.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Abandonment, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Grief, Car accident, Physical abuse, Abortion, Sexual assault, Blood, Medical content, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts

songbird72's review against another edition

dark 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? No

4.75

Weyward is the beautiful story of three women, one in 1619, one in the 1940s, and one in modern day England, who are related.   It tells the individual stories of each woman and hardships they faced but also weaves their story together in a beautiful way.   This story reminded me a little of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue because of the magical realism and lovely writing but I thought this story had better focus.  And even though it was shorter, I felt that it told each woman's story adequately.   I split my time between the physical copy and the audiobook.   I loved the audiobook version and hearing the gorgeous lilt of the different English accents.   Very well done.    This is probably one of the best books I have read this year.  I highly recommend it!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Domestic abuse, Abortion, Physical abuse, Rape, Abandonment, Alcohol, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Car accident, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Emotional abuse

hannahcstocks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Abortion, Pregnancy, Rape, Suicide, Vomit, Grief, Incest, Infertility, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, War, Murder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Body horror, and Pedophilia

Minor: Infidelity