Reviews tagging 'War'

A Secret History of Witches by Louisa Morgan

9 reviews

aestass's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

This book is an inner generational story of a family of women witches as they attempt to integrate into English society, while remaining true to their family legacy. The story takes place across multiple centuries, and provide social commentary on the place of women, the place of minorities, especially Roma minorities.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual content, and Pregnancy

Moderate: War

blueyogi's review

reflective relaxing tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, War, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Death, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, and Sexism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Infertility, Animal death, Infidelity, Abortion, Abandonment, Antisemitism, Grief, and Death of parent

noble_xoxo's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

5.0

A story about womanhood, sisterhood, adversity through tough times, and a little bit of magic along the way. Reads fairly quickly. Some characters more memorable than others but all around a beautiful lineage story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity

Moderate: Abortion and Infertility

Minor: War, Genocide, and Classism

TW: WW2 as a backdrop to final chapters. Could be upsetting to some readers.

hannahduda's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual content, Genocide, Grief, Infertility, Death of parent, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Blood, Violence, Abandonment, Abortion, Animal death, Pregnancy, and War

agirlsnightbookbash's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Not what I expected

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Infidelity, Religious bigotry, Animal death, Infertility, Death of parent, Abortion, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Medical content, War, Death, and Emotional abuse

luna_staci's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, War, Abortion, Infertility, Animal death, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Infidelity, and Pregnancy

mburnsides's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-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? No

4.0

 

I’m indecisive on how to rate this book. On one hand  I believe it's well written and has developed characters and storylines, but on the other hand it's just so slow and so long and every new section follows the same general outline. With a variety of storylines and individual sections focusing on one main character, it's hard to dislike the entire book, as each section is like its own small book.

Nanette   ★★★☆☆

This first section establishes the general outline for each following section- a girl comes of age, learns about her family’s history of witchcraft, has a baby out of wedlock, and her story ends, each in a unique way- Nanette having knowledge of witchcraft from the beginning. Her story is short and sweet, albeit sad.

Ursule   ★★★★☆

Ursule was one of my favorite characters. Her initial rejection of witchcraft was unique to her character, and her relationships were more interesting to read. I liked the plot of her section as well as the fast and dramatic ending.

Irene   ★★☆☆☆

The most irritating of the main women. Irene is unlikable from the very first page of her section. Luckily, her part of the story is fairly short. Her horrible treatment towards her mother, daughter, and lover gets her in the end. She’s the only main character that is written as a villain in her own story.

Morwen   ★★★☆☆

This section is fairly forgettable alongside Nanette. Morwen doesn’t do much but ride her horse and fight against her mother’s wishes. She’s the only woman to not have a second lover or get pregnant outside of her marriage.

Veronica    ★★★★☆

My favorite of the sections, Morgan actually gives the time to build a connection with the character. Although I found the incorporation of Queen Elizabeth as a witch to be strange, it was such a small aspect to Veronica’s story that it's forgettable. This section has the most male characters and the most deaths of minor characters (alongside Ursule), but has a genuine romantic relationship between the main woman and her lover. I did not care about Phillip or Thomas, and found Valery to be a very likable character. Their relationship was the most romantic, in my opinion, which made the section a much easier read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Infidelity, Murder, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, War, and Sexism

Minor: Rape and Animal cruelty

circe813's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Misogyny, Violence, War, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Genocide

Moderate: Animal death

kyrstin_p1989'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Moving and complex, this novel tells the story of the Orchiere witches, spanning over several decades. The book has some slow parts but the rest of the book makes up for those. The characters are as complex and intriguing as the story itself and the underlying thread that talks of feminine power is just as applicable today as it was one hundred years ago. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Violence, and War

Moderate: Abortion, Animal death, and Antisemitism