Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by Brom

7 reviews

abbysingh's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Torture, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gun violence, and Hate crime

_kaylinconn's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

3.25

The writing in this is beautiful, and it is so creative compared to some of the things I normally read!! Brom created an intense atmosphere that left me nervous while reading - in the best way.

The talk of identity and finding ourselves is reflected beautifully in both Abitha and Samson.

The reason this gets a lower rating is primarily because I didn’t feel particularly attached to the characters. They all felt like not good people, but not in the fun way. Samson was the most compelling, but he lost me at the end. I did like Abitha, but I didn’t feel connected to her. 

Honestly, my favorite character was Forest and I was sad he didn’t live to see the world he wanted. 

I also am not a fun of vigilante justice that involves torture. I understand why Abitha wishes to punish certain members of the village, and I understand wanting the deaths to be violent. But torture is never something I enjoy reading, and even in vigilante justice, I never find it excusable. Though I know there are people who do horrible things, I just can’t imagine truly torturing another human. And it made me dislike the characters in an irredeemable way. I can understand and still like a character who kills, but torture is too much for me. 

I also am aware this is a me issue! It does not make the book bad for having it, it just makes it something I don’t like.

That being said, I thought this had a lot of beautiful moments in it. RIP Forest, I loved him even though he was a turd

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

stephanieanneauthor's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book gave me everything I wanted and more! I tend to prefer psychological and body horror, but the mix of dark fantasy and historical fiction is blended perfectly into the horrors that occur. And yes, I got some body horror out of this story. As an additional bonus, the audiobook is well narrated.

Brom's writing style is beautiful, and I felt just about every emotion over the course of this dark tale. And given the multitudes of dualities - man vs nature, woman vs man, pagan vs christian, etc - I wouldn't be surprised if I got more out of a second reading. This might just have to be something I re-read in the future.

Overall, the story reminds me of that meme that's something along the lines of: my favourite horror movie genre is "good for her". I cheered Abitha's every success and felt my heart ache for her with every failure. Good for her!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Gun violence, Racism, Forced institutionalization, and Grief

klsreads's review against another edition

challenging dark funny sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book was not what I expected, but I had a fun time so ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.  The 1600's protagonist read like a modern woman, and the pacing was a bit odd. It is horror, so there is gore and explicit torture/violence. I was really excited for the last 20% of the book and it delivered. Beyond that, the discussions on ecocide and spirituality/religion really hit, as well as the rumination on the nature of evil. I loved the intermingling of Native American folklore, fairy tales, and Christianity.

Consider checking the cws/tws. The art in the book is super spooky and cool. I think it added a lot to the experience!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Colonisation

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

jessie_cobb's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation

Minor: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

hownoveljo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

kelleykamanda's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

This book is as if Carrie, The Crucible, and The Vvitch had a baby. A bit slow at times but damn… what an ending. Loved!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, and Colonisation

Minor: Racism