Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese

10 reviews

gracescanlon's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring tense 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

4.75

As a woman with multiple forms of synesthesia and with family members who also have it, a historical fiction story told from the perspective of a woman with synesthesia is so up my alley, it may as well have been written for me. 

I found Isobel’s descriptions of her experiences with her own synesthesia quite believable. I haven’t had such vibrant experiences myself since I was a girl, but I remember them, and still have smaller, less dramatic ones. Whether Ms. Albanese has synesthesia or not, I found her portrayals of it, especially how it touches every part of life, to ring true. Well done!

This would have been a five-star read, but I felt that the story was rushed in some places. That rush led to a lack of development and depth in characters and their relationships with one another. I think if more time had been devoted to building and expanding upon these, it would've enriched the novel - and earned five stars from me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Physical abuse, Death, Misogyny, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Violence, Blood, Colonisation, Miscarriage, Addiction, Racism, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Grief, Sexism, Sexual content, and Slavery

Minor: Ableism, Miscarriage, Alcohol, Body shaming, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Child death, Excrement, and Suicidal thoughts

spineofthesaurus's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Xenophobia, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Alcoholism, Child death, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Colonisation, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Racial slurs, Abandonment, Death of parent, Confinement, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Terminal illness, Abortion, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Slavery, and Sexual content

Minor: Medical content, Incest, Vomit, Gun violence, and Excrement

bookswithbront's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad tense 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

4.0

This book tried to do a few too many things and didn’t develop some of its ideas as fully as I’d like. But I still really enjoyed my time with the story. And I have a feeling that Isobel’s colors and the way the women came together to help each other survive are going to stick with me for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Slavery, Trafficking, Death of parent, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Classism, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Miscarriage

oceanwriter's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective slow-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

I'll be honest. I wanted to read this book because the cover is gorgeous. I paid minimum attention to the synopsis until later when I was discussing it with the person I ended up buddy-reading it with. Once I fully realized what it was about and where it was set, I was 100% sold.

Isobel and her husband, Edward, immigrate from Scotland to Salem, Massachusetts sometime in the early 1800s. They aren't together here long as Edward soon joins a ship crew and leaves Isobel behind to fend for herself. She's not without a trade, fortunately, and is a talented seamstress. But are her talents the result of something that could ultimately put her life in danger?

While Edward is away, Isobel forges a friendship with none other than Nathaniel Hawthorne. Both of them are haunted by their pasts and lineage. This common bond draws them to one another.

I enjoyed this a lot, though I could be biased as I can consider it a local story. I do think I would have gotten a lot more out of the story if I had first read The Scarlet Letter. One thing I still can't figure out is the significance of the italicized sections of the book. I understand the connection between the characters portrayed here and the protagonists, but they fizzle out toward the end. I personally found it more confusing than an aid in the progression of the story.

This is the first time I've read a book that involves a character with synesthesia. So fascinating. It added a lot to Isobel's character and made the story richer. The descriptions were fantastic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Addiction, and Infidelity

Moderate: Violence, Xenophobia, and Physical abuse

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Bullying, and Abortion

keyahnah's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Slavery, and Emotional abuse

bootsmom3's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Addiction, Infidelity, and Misogyny

Minor: Rape

miss_vonnegut's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful tense 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

5.0

This was such a beautifully written book. I don't usually listen to fiction audiobooks, but I'm so glad I listened to this one. (Thank you to libro.fm and the publisher for the ARC!) I'm sure reading the physical book would have been great as well, but if you're looking for a good fictional audiobook, I would highly recommend this. I love that this novel is set in the 1800s (with some flashbacks to the 1600s) and deals explicitly with racism and sexism. I'm a white woman and it's entirely possible that I missed things but, to me, it read as intersectionally feminist, with women supporting each other and acknowledging the ways that racism and sexism intersect to affect black women differently. Very lite spoiler:

Spoiler

As a heads up, the main character (a white woman) is not fully aware of all the impacts of racism at the start of the book and she learns as it progresses.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery and Racism

Moderate: Abortion, Pregnancy, Violence, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Sexism

Minor: Colonisation and Death of parent

katisreading's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

3.75

Such an interesting take on a story I haven’t thought about since high school. And so SAD. I think it did a great job, but I’m really mixed up about my feelings reading it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Slavery, Religious bigotry, and Physical abuse

erynlasbelin's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Slavery

Moderate: Abandonment, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Classism, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Violence, and Xenophobia

Minor: Religious bigotry, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, and Terminal illness

gretel7's review

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad medium-paced

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

3.5

An interesting read.  This gives a new twist to Hawthorne's classic.  And 'what if' Hester Prynne told her own story, this might be it.  

The writing has great flow, tragic characters and it was riveting that Synesthesia was used to help tell the story.

3.5☆

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Violence, Emotional abuse, Racism, and Slavery