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Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'
A Discovery of Witches (Movie Tie-In) by Deborah Harkness
11 reviews
fkshg8465's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
5.0
If I wasn’t a vegetarian, I think I might like trying to be a vampire. 😂😂😂😂
I couldn’t put this down. In fact, I was so mad that I had to go to sleep at all, and it was already almost 4 am when I finally gave into my slumber. Had no idea it had been made into a TV show until I was well into the book and read it in someone else’s review while making dinner last night. Now I’ve got to figure out how to stream it while waiting for the second book to come off my holds shelf on Libby.
I couldn’t put this down. In fact, I was so mad that I had to go to sleep at all, and it was already almost 4 am when I finally gave into my slumber. Had no idea it had been made into a TV show until I was well into the book and read it in someone else’s review while making dinner last night. Now I’ve got to figure out how to stream it while waiting for the second book to come off my holds shelf on Libby.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
frawst_disasta_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
lighthearted
tense
fast-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? Yes
4.0
This is my … fourth reread? I have lost track. I LOVE this story. Deborah builds a gorgeous world which blends in with ours seamlessly. I want more of it.
She creates three distinct creatures and a magic system that I need to learn. (Even if sometimes her vampires feel like wolves.). Deborah’s use of words claims attention and I want to befriend every supporting allied character.
So why? Why does this book only rate a four? Diana. Deborah introduces us to this brilliant, stubborn, and no nonsense woman. One who wants to learn more and more. But then she meets Matthew and I feel like I’m reading a 14yo who has no idea how to make her own decisions or makes some really face palm ones. (Also I cringe when people refer to sex as making love)
Matthew takes “touch her and die” too far and this is not a healthy relationship.
She creates three distinct creatures and a magic system that I need to learn. (Even if sometimes her vampires feel like wolves.). Deborah’s use of words claims attention and I want to befriend every supporting allied character.
So why? Why does this book only rate a four? Diana. Deborah introduces us to this brilliant, stubborn, and no nonsense woman. One who wants to learn more and more. But then she meets Matthew and I feel like I’m reading a 14yo who has no idea how to make her own decisions or makes some really face palm ones. (Also I cringe when people refer to sex as making love)
Matthew takes “touch her and die” too far and this is not a healthy relationship.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse and Injury/Injury detail
pewterwolf's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.75
At the time of writing this, this would be my fourth time reading this (though I have only read the series through once), and while I am a fan of this world and the characters, there are little things that irritated me (pacing, when important information is shared to the reader [and this is a very detail-heavy book], a tad insta-love for my taste).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Death of parent and War
euphemiajo's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Death of parent
jaynovara's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
slow-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? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Torture, and Blood
Moderate: Confinement, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Medical content, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy
selincck's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
For one, Diana was an absolute idiot and why would she call mathew’s son her own son like that’s so weird
I didn’t like Diana and Mathew’s personalities but other than that it was pretty 😌
I didn’t like Diana and Mathew’s personalities but other than that it was pretty 😌
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, and Kidnapping
bookishchef's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
This book is like Twilight.
But without the love triangle.
And somehow even more toxic.
You thought Edward stalking Bella was creepy?
Meet Matthew Clermont! He is actually mentally and physically abusive to our bland Mary Sue protagonist named Diana.
If you're Matthew, life is easy.
Diana has a panic attack? Threaten her life.
Diana is feeling scared? Threaten her life.
Diana is feeling horny? Threaten her life.
Why? Because you just cannot help yourself of course. After all, it is sooooo hot when men treat women like
A. fragile objects they're supposed to control and protect.
B. things to literally kill.
This book perpetrates the idea that men cannot help themselves from abusing, controling, and commanding women.
Worst thing is, that every time Diana goes against Matthew's wishes, she is immediately punished by the plot. Which only confirms that women are supposed to listen to the men in their lives according to this book.
I have no clue how I, the reader, was supposed to find any of this romantic. All of the scenes were either highly uncomfortable or straight up abusive.
The excuse of "he just can't help himself" is as old as time and has been used time and time again to excuse shitty behaviour from men.
And Diana, the MC, decides that this excuse is not an excuse at all. She seems to think this is actually the way the world works. She doesn't even take the horrible "I can fix him" attitude that so many romance MCs take. Instead she just completely accepts Matthew as the toxic asshole he is and gives up every part of her life to listen to him and conform to his ideas of an ideal wife.
So yeah this book stole the toxicity from Twilight and made it 10x worse.
You know what else it stole?
THE WEIRD BABY PLOTLINE
Yup, you heard me correctly.
This author really looked at Renesmee and went "wow that's such a cool plot point".
Remember how Bella wasn't supposed to be able to get pregnant because Ed was a vampire? Well, same goes for Diana in this story. For a solid 80% of the book, we hear nothing about pregnancy rates between witches and vampires. (Diana is a witch and Matthew is a vampire)
Matthew refuses to have penetrative sex because of *plot*, and Diana gets frustrated because of this. And then suddenly out of NOWHERE it is revealed that witches and vampires can't have babies together BUT Diana has *special* DNA which means she is able to conceive with Matthew. Matthew supposedly didn't know this, so his aversion to penetrative sex was completely unrelated.
Even so, this entire plotpoint seems to exist to make Matthew right once again, and to rip off Twilight.
Truly do not understand why this gets 4+ stars on Goodreads.
ALSO OMG WINE GETS MENTIONED MORE THAN THE MC'S NAME I STG
But without the love triangle.
And somehow even more toxic.
You thought Edward stalking Bella was creepy?
Meet Matthew Clermont! He is actually mentally and physically abusive to our bland Mary Sue protagonist named Diana.
If you're Matthew, life is easy.
Diana has a panic attack? Threaten her life.
Diana is feeling scared? Threaten her life.
Diana is feeling horny? Threaten her life.
Why? Because you just cannot help yourself of course. After all, it is sooooo hot when men treat women like
A. fragile objects they're supposed to control and protect.
B. things to literally kill.
This book perpetrates the idea that men cannot help themselves from abusing, controling, and commanding women.
Worst thing is, that every time Diana goes against Matthew's wishes, she is immediately punished by the plot. Which only confirms that women are supposed to listen to the men in their lives according to this book.
I have no clue how I, the reader, was supposed to find any of this romantic. All of the scenes were either highly uncomfortable or straight up abusive.
The excuse of "he just can't help himself" is as old as time and has been used time and time again to excuse shitty behaviour from men.
And Diana, the MC, decides that this excuse is not an excuse at all. She seems to think this is actually the way the world works. She doesn't even take the horrible "I can fix him" attitude that so many romance MCs take. Instead she just completely accepts Matthew as the toxic asshole he is and gives up every part of her life to listen to him and conform to his ideas of an ideal wife.
So yeah this book stole the toxicity from Twilight and made it 10x worse.
You know what else it stole?
THE WEIRD BABY PLOTLINE
Yup, you heard me correctly.
This author really looked at Renesmee and went "wow that's such a cool plot point".
Remember how Bella wasn't supposed to be able to get pregnant because Ed was a vampire? Well, same goes for Diana in this story. For a solid 80% of the book, we hear nothing about pregnancy rates between witches and vampires. (Diana is a witch and Matthew is a vampire)
Matthew refuses to have penetrative sex because of *plot*, and Diana gets frustrated because of this. And then suddenly out of NOWHERE it is revealed that witches and vampires can't have babies together BUT Diana has *special* DNA which means she is able to conceive with Matthew. Matthew supposedly didn't know this, so his aversion to penetrative sex was completely unrelated.
Even so, this entire plotpoint seems to exist to make Matthew right once again, and to rip off Twilight.
Truly do not understand why this gets 4+ stars on Goodreads.
ALSO OMG WINE GETS MENTIONED MORE THAN THE MC'S NAME I STG
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Misogyny, Torture, Grief, and Pregnancy
Minor: Child death
clarissa_lily's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
If I had two words to describe this book they'd be slow (so so slow) and disappointing.
I really wanted to like this book, on paper (no pun intended) it ticks many boxes but in practice it really missed the mark for me.
There were moments and characters I enjoyed (the initial slow burn of the romance had me pining way harder than Diana!) but the overall slowness of this book just took away so much enjoyment - we're talking page long descriptions of a desk and random filler which serves the plot in no way slow, just ugh. It's over 700 pages long and easily could've been less than 500 without giving up any plot and imo would've made for a much more enjoyable read.
But the nail in the coffin for me with this one was Dianna and Matthew's relationship. I'm sorry but I just can't get behind an abusive relationship (which btw both the author and MCs acknowledge!) especially when said abuse is justified and explained away by him being a vampire and that just being how it is. It's very much Bella and Edward for adults and honestly it's worrying that manipulation, lovebombing, controlling behaviour, and straight up violence (among with many, many other abusive behaviours) are glorified here as constitutive of an ideal relationship worth [SPOILER ALERT INCOMING] being tortured, hunted down, and outcast from your community for. Nope, nope, and more nope.
If you're curious about the plot, spare yourself and watch the TV show.
I really wanted to like this book, on paper (no pun intended) it ticks many boxes but in practice it really missed the mark for me.
There were moments and characters I enjoyed (the initial slow burn of the romance had me pining way harder than Diana!) but the overall slowness of this book just took away so much enjoyment - we're talking page long descriptions of a desk and random filler which serves the plot in no way slow, just ugh. It's over 700 pages long and easily could've been less than 500 without giving up any plot and imo would've made for a much more enjoyable read.
But the nail in the coffin for me with this one was Dianna and Matthew's relationship. I'm sorry but I just can't get behind an abusive relationship (which btw both the author and MCs acknowledge!) especially when said abuse is justified and explained away by him being a vampire and that just being how it is. It's very much Bella and Edward for adults and honestly it's worrying that manipulation, lovebombing, controlling behaviour, and straight up violence (among with many, many other abusive behaviours) are glorified here as constitutive of an ideal relationship worth [SPOILER ALERT INCOMING] being tortured, hunted down, and outcast from your community for. Nope, nope, and more nope.
If you're curious about the plot, spare yourself and watch the TV show.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
atxshopgirl's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
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
4.5
Reading this was like all my favorite YA, fantasy, and sci-fi fandoms got mixed up in a big cauldron, with a healthy dash of ABO elements, without explicitly calling out ABO (sorta). (Seriously — if you liked the vibes from that childhood wizard series or the sparkly vampire story, read fanfic, and have watched that show about a time lord at any point, you’ll probably enjoy this story.)
The main character wasn’t super relatable at first and felt kinda like a Mary Sue, but as the plot really picked up, a lot of the exposition and first-person voice that I found somewhat annoying at the beginning fell away and I really began to enjoy the way the plot unraveled and the way all the characters were interacting with and growing with one another.
The book was a bit slow to start, but once many of the other characters were introduced the pace picked up quite a bit and I found myself wishing there had been MORE content established with those characters, and more depth, despite how long it already is.
The main character wasn’t super relatable at first and felt kinda like a Mary Sue, but as the plot really picked up, a lot of the exposition and first-person voice that I found somewhat annoying at the beginning fell away and I really began to enjoy the way the plot unraveled and the way all the characters were interacting with and growing with one another.
The book was a bit slow to start, but once many of the other characters were introduced the pace picked up quite a bit and I found myself wishing there had been MORE content established with those characters, and more depth, despite how long it already is.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Medical content, Stalking, and Pregnancy
rachelisreading's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders