Reviews tagging 'War'

Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier

21 reviews

rhi_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, and Torture

Minor: Confinement, Incest, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, and Pregnancy

bookaquarius's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

I made it through Daughter of the Forest and I really enjoyed it! We follow the protagonist from childhood into adulthood as she goes on a long, arduous journey to save her 6 brothers from a terrible curse. The beginning starts off rather slowly as we learn about Sorcha and her brothers’ lives at Sevenwaters, the land owned and stewarded by her family. There’s a prolonged war with neighboring Britons, and a legacy of violence between the two people. As dark and emotional as it was (and it really really was), it also definitely had a lot of spring/summery cottage vibes because of the magical forest filled with mystery and various forest folk. The protagonist also has a talent for gardening so it was a beautiful landscape to imagine. 

As for the story, Ms. Marillier does not pull punches. The protagonist gets dragged through it! Like, she did not catch a single break up until the end and even in that moment she was still struggling. I found myself really invested in her story as I was reading but at times I needed long breaks because it became harder to pick up when I knew our girl would be getting knocked down unbelievably harder each day 😭. It read like a dark epic fairytale and was ultimately a rewarding read. The romance even read a bit like a fairy/folk tale in the sense that it’s the reward for the journey, not necessarily what you see the whole way through. I liked how it was handled and that it was a relationship that allowed Sorcha to stay true to herself.

As for one of the content warnings, I disagree with statements I’ve seen that the assault was not graphic or in any way not fully on page. Everyone is different, and for me it was a highly detailed and graphic scene. It’s the first half of Ch 6. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Vomit and War

sar_tej's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? No

5.0

Exquisite. Ethereal. Folklore retelling at its best. If I could give this book 6 stars, I would. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, and War

geekmom's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad

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

4.75

This was a truly wonderful novel. Marillier has taken a familiar, old fairy tale and breathed new life into it, and subverted some of the tropes; the characters feel deeply human. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Violence, Murder, and War

kbookish's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Sexual harassment, and War

virginia_pixley's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, and War

cmbossy's review

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

I loved the whimsical fairy-tale style of this book. It was beautiful and sweeping, despite how sad and traumatic the main character’s journey is. The character’s youth added a sweet storytelling aspect and I thought it was great. Very dark storylines though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Grief, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and War

cmaree88's review against another edition

emotional inspiring mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual content

Minor: Torture, Xenophobia, and War

ashatroyal's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This is a story! The way it was woven and unfolded was amazing. A mix of history, lore and fantasy. The author did not spare us of heartbreak, sorrow, pride or joy. This book gave me all the feels. I cried. I yelled out loud. Sorcha experienced so much at such a young age. Like she is such a strong FMC who you can’t help but root for. She was dealt such a hand and tasked with such a challenge to save her family. Her loyalty knew no bounds. Oonagh was so evil. Honestly, I cannot believe what Red did. I felt like he gave “Jenny” no choice. He put her in an awful position trying to protect her. I felt so bad for Simon and Fin. The Fair Folk are so cruel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Gaslighting, and War

jo_d's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

Zoomed through reading this book, excellent story but very few happy moments

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Torture, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Confinement, Physical abuse, Torture, Blood, Murder, Colonisation, and War

Minor: Suicide and Suicide attempt