Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Witches of Vardø by Anya Bergman

12 reviews

janey_bones's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

victoria_mh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

There is a lot of very heavy stuff in this book;

I was expecting torture of 'witches' and that itself was hard to read, but then there's a full description of the teenage protagonist getting raped.

kiwialexa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

ecster's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? No

4.0

An emotional rollercoaster of a book if there ever was one, a great feminist perspective of witch trials in 17th century Norway.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Grief, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Suicide

madamelacy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

A powerful, exhilarating read. I felt so angry at the way men treated women who weren’t submissive enough, as they were so afraid of the women’s power. However, the female characters all find a way of being, beyond the control of men.

This book was beautifully written and I could absolutely imagine the landscape, freezing weather, dirt and foul smells! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

ninamanon's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

4.25

A harrowing feminist tale about sisterhood, power, and justice. I loved Ingeborg and Maren instantly; they drew me into the story. I had a more difficult time getting through Fru Anna’s chapters, as she reads as haughty and annoyingly delusional, a sort of pick me girl. She irritated me greatly in the beginning, but the strength of the book was that the further you got into her story, the more you understood how she became the way she was, and in the end I couldn’t fault her and merely felt sorry for her, as I did for every other woman in the book. As for the ending,

I loved it: I loved how the conflict was resolved, how it ended with a shimmer of hope, how every single girl and woman was liberated in one way or another. I especially loved Maren and Elisa’s future: it is so beautiful to find a queer historical story that doesn’t end in misery. I will think of them often.

The prose was beautiful; I did have to get used to the first person narrative, and I struggled a bit at around the 30% mark, as Anna was boring me a bit with her tedious stories of her past lover, but as I said, I now understand their purpose. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

bookchatwithbeth's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder, and Pregnancy

arayo's review

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Rape, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Child abuse, Excrement, Grief, and Death of parent

tigglez's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

lilyadams's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Miscarriage, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Excrement, and Pregnancy