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A review by citrulle
Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by Brom
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I definitely enjoyed reading this, finishing it quickly, but I am left with conflicting thoughts. The writing is fairly straightforward and simple, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I would say it was more in the line of fantasy than horror, as some scenes were certainly tense and there was a lot of gore but not particularly scary.
A lot of the characters felt very shallow and one dimensional, with the exception being Reverend Carter which came as a pleasant surprise to me. I also liked Edward a lot, and hated the appropriate cast. I think Forest was one of the more rounded characters, with complicated motivations that didn’t exist with the others who all had relatively straightforward goals.
I really liked Samson though, and I thought the parts of him trying to remember himself and who he was to be well written and among my favourite scenes in the novel. The journey of Abitha reconnecting with her ancestors and Mother Earth and discovering the magic within her and around her was also a highlight, and I wish her reconnecting with her ancestors had been touched upon a bit more.
I rooted for Abitha through the end, and was glad to see her revenge had, and that she and Samson continue on to be protectors of nature after the fact, but in Abitha’s thirst for revenge, I’m left wondering how Abitha is different from the men. Confessing their love for their god and hurting others out of fear and anger. I suppose you could say that her anger was justified (I think so) but the end came off a bit like revenge porn. I’d like to think she mellowed out a little bit, considering many innocents were killed in the blood bath at the end.
I did overall enjoy this novel, all that being said. It was a light read, despite the darker subject matter, and I liked reading it. There’s a lot of good ideas in here, and the weaker points weren’t enough to make me DNF or not enjoy reading it.
A lot of the characters felt very shallow and one dimensional, with the exception being Reverend Carter which came as a pleasant surprise to me. I also liked Edward a lot, and hated the appropriate cast. I think Forest was one of the more rounded characters, with complicated motivations that didn’t exist with the others who all had relatively straightforward goals.
I really liked Samson though, and I thought the parts of him trying to remember himself and who he was to be well written and among my favourite scenes in the novel. The journey of Abitha reconnecting with her ancestors and Mother Earth and discovering the magic within her and around her was also a highlight, and I wish her reconnecting with her ancestors had been touched upon a bit more.
I rooted for Abitha through the end, and was glad to see her revenge had, and that she and Samson continue on to be protectors of nature after the fact, but in Abitha’s thirst for revenge, I’m left wondering how Abitha is different from the men. Confessing their love for their god and hurting others out of fear and anger. I suppose you could say that her anger was justified (I think so) but the end came off a bit like revenge porn. I’d like to think she mellowed out a little bit, considering many innocents were killed in the blood bath at the end.
I did overall enjoy this novel, all that being said. It was a light read, despite the darker subject matter, and I liked reading it. There’s a lot of good ideas in here, and the weaker points weren’t enough to make me DNF or not enjoy reading it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Colonisation