Reviews tagging 'Transphobia'

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

94 reviews

hexedmaiden's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Child abuse, Homophobia, and Racism

Minor: Torture, Transphobia, and Abortion

abbiemcintosh's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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

4.5

I put off reading this for years because im not really into fantasy but I absolutely loved it! 
The concept of this story is brilliant, I love the intertwining of feminist movements and witches. The characters are loveable despite their flaws. I felt every emotion of the characters so deeply and felt their rage so much i thought I might become a witch. There is great representation of LGBTQ+ characters in both the lead characters and background characters which made me so happy.
The only reason I’ve knocked down .5 is because I do feel the book is unnecessarily long and could easily lose at least 25% while still having the same impact. But still a fantastic read and I will be recommending it to others!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Pregnancy

Moderate: Cancer and Abortion

Minor: Transphobia

xcelxdx's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Overall enjoyed the concept and thought it was cool how they tied together the threads of a lot of different folklore stories. This book did fall prey to the standalone fantasy catch-22 where it became somehow too detailed/long-winded and superficial; due to the cramming of perhaps too many intricate plot points into 500 pages. I struggled to really connect with the characters and thought on the whole that their characters and respective romances and backstories could have been fleshed out a bit more. There were also some aspects where I felt the emotional journey the characters went on was perhaps too quick in the sense that it took about a sentence to process and come to a conclusion, but the author also used this to good effect in some instances.

The plague element felt a bit random in the book and it wasn’t properly concluded: what happened to the sick people, how did Eve get better? If it was due to GH’s death, did everyone get better? How is it spread… though perhaps as the book was published in 2020 this was something they wanted to diminish

all of that said I loved how they intertwined all these folk tales into one adapted and connected

but actually not really

narrative that cummulated

into a message of internal power and an almost rejection of fate. Injecting agency into a world where women have such little. I do feel the race aspect could have been explored further beyond the singular allusion of the non-inclusivity of the suffragist movement to woc

. Overall I really enjoyed the concept but it simultaneously felt a little like a slog to get through and left me with questions wanting more

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Slavery, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Abortion, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, and Pandemic/Epidemic

steppecreature's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-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: Homophobia, Misogyny, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Transphobia and Abortion

beckkopp's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

For not being a big fantasy reader, I loved this book! I really enjoyed each sister and how fully built out each one was. I feel like the ending was a bit drawn out, but otherwise I highly recommend!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Murder

Moderate: Racism and Kidnapping

Minor: Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Transphobia

littki's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

Moderate: Physical abuse, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

zyxtasaurus's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

Minor: Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Racism, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Murder, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

lemonwrlds's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Abandonment, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

megnut's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Transphobia and Abortion

craftysnailtail's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

I could see a certain type of person really loving this book, but it absolutely wasn't for me. The neverending tragic backstory reveals felt incredibly tropey. Show me a woman in this novel and she will be "strong" because she survived so much abuse. Everything in this book was traumatic, depressing, and often ended poorly for all the women involved. I understand the fight against injustice, but it felt too heavy handed for me. 

3.5 stars because the plot was interesting (though far too drawn out), and I enjoyed how magical knowledge is passed down through generations. I even liked the sisters themselves. But for a book with witches and lesbians, I thought I would've enjoyed it much more than I did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Grief, Abortion, Murder, Outing, Abandonment, Alcohol, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic