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A review by typhlosiontiffany
Weyward by Emilia Hart
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
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? N/A
2.5
This was a hard book for me to rate, and I almost didn’t, because I can see why people enjoy this book, but I decided to state my stance:
From my understanding this is a debut novel, but I may be incorrect when saying that. The writing just wasn’t great. It had moments where it was strong and engaging, but other times it was clunky, flat, read more like a young adult book, and did a lot of telling and not showing when it came to the plot.
I felt that a lot of the characters fell flat for me when they could have been written better.I tried to give Violet the benefit of the doubt most of the story given her age, but in the epilogue she still seemed the same and wasn’t mature. Understandably, I know she went through a lot and was traumatized so I don’t want to write her off as a bad character, just that it seemed like she didn’t really fit the role in an adult novel. It came off very YA.
The part that really threw me off was how graphic the sexual assault was in this book; so much so that there should have been a trigger warning in the beginning. The scene was so graphic that I almost DNF’d the book and honestly, maybe I should have, given I am a SA survivor, and that likely led to the decision of rating this book as low as I did. Because of this, I do not plan to read the other novel this author has released.
I don’t want my review to dissuade other readers from trying to engage with this book, as I can see why many rate it as high as they have! The storylines are interesting and I do enjoy a strong female character, however, I do think you should be well prepared for violent scenes such as graphic SA throughout the entirety of the book.
From my understanding this is a debut novel, but I may be incorrect when saying that. The writing just wasn’t great. It had moments where it was strong and engaging, but other times it was clunky, flat, read more like a young adult book, and did a lot of telling and not showing when it came to the plot.
I felt that a lot of the characters fell flat for me when they could have been written better.
The part that really threw me off was how graphic the sexual assault was in this book; so much so that there should have been a trigger warning in the beginning. The scene was so graphic that I almost DNF’d the book and honestly, maybe I should have, given I am a SA survivor, and that likely led to the decision of rating this book as low as I did. Because of this, I do not plan to read the other novel this author has released.
I don’t want my review to dissuade other readers from trying to engage with this book, as I can see why many rate it as high as they have! The storylines are interesting and I do enjoy a strong female character, however, I do think you should be well prepared for violent scenes such as graphic SA throughout the entirety of the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death