Reviews tagging 'War'

Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier

24 reviews

cmaree88's review

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 against another edition

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

missgarceau's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail

theavidbookworm's review

adventurous emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

This book was truly heart-wrenching to read. If it's possible to both love and despise a book for the pain it puts you through, this is it. There was so much sadness that I really had a difficult time reading this... Can't say enjoyable but I also can't say that it wasn't a good book. 

The writing is solid, and does a very good job of pulling you in and keeping you there. The characters are wonderfully written. 

My biggest struggle with this book (and the reason I can't rate it) would be the abundance of pain and suffering. It almost seems like overkill? 

There is a rather explicit rape scene (first person POV, MC).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Sexual harassment, and War

Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

clairereadstoomuch's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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? No

4.75

Questo libro è stata una piacevole sorpresa.

E’ un romanzo dall’impianto fiabesco, la cui struttura segue perfettamente nella sua tradizione. Padre rimasto vedovo con sette figli di cui una sola figlia, che poi si sposa eventualmente con una strega cattiva di cui è stregato.
Nel vano tentativo di ribellarsi, i sei fratelli saranno anch’essi vittima di un incantesimo. Solo Sorha, la protagonista, riesce a salvarsi grazie al sacrificio dei fratelli. Sarà lei infatti l’unica a poter spezzare l’incantesimo. A costo di grandi sacrifici, del suo silenzio e di duro lavoro, Sorha si imbarca quindi in questo viaggio per riavere i fratelli.
Fedele alla struttura fiabesca, la povera Sorha ne passerà di tutti i colori prima di raggiungere il suo obiettivo. Ma non temete, perché tra la tante peripezie, Sorha troverà l’amore. Un amore proibito, impossibile e di convenienza che salverà la vita ad entrambi, in più modi.


All’inizio ho avuto un po’ di difficoltà ad entrare nella storia per lo stile narrativo è molto asciutto e crea una distanza notevole con quanto narrato. Forse è il prodotto dei suoi tempi o del genere testuale al quale appartiene ma alla fine dei conti, mi sono trovata grata per questa scelta. Se fosse stata una narrazione ricca di pathos, sarebbe stata una lettura parecchio pesante da digerire.

Superato questo gradino però la lettura scorre veloce, coinvolti tra le disavventure di Sorha, risulta veramente difficile metter giù il libro. E’ così che mi sono trovata da metà alla fine praticamente in un solo pomeriggio.

Ho davvero apprezzato il rapporto che Sorha ha con i fratelli, mi ha davvero emozionato. Per non parlare dell’interesse amoroso che pur attraverso la freddezza dei toni della narrazione riesce a mostrare tutto il suo interesse e amore.

“non è importante che tu sia qui o altrove, perché la tua immagine è davanti ai miei occhi in ogni momento. Ti vedo nella luce sopra l'acqua, nei giovani alberi che oscillano alla brezza di primavera. Ti vedo nelle ombre delle grandi querce, e sento la tua voce di notte, nel chiurlo del gufo.
Sei il sangue che mi scorre nelle vene, e il battito del mio cuore.
Sei il mio primo pensiero del mattino, e il mio ultimo sospiro prima di prender sonno. Tu sei... tu sei fibra delle mie fibre, respiro del mio respiro.” (ho urlato)

La cosa che mi ha incuriosita subito di questo romanzo è stato l’impianto folkloristico irlandese dal quale l’autrice ha attinto per la creazione di questo mondo. Ambientato nell’Irlanda del X secolo, risulta veramente facile credere alle storia di Sorha, di maledizioni e del popolo fatato.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Murder

aarynn's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Grief, Medical trauma, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Child abuse, Death, Incest, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and War

kibbles15's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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

5.0

This is a well written emotional roller coaster of a fairy tale.  I literally could not put down the book and read it in one day.  The author did an amazing job of interpreting the Grimm Brother's Tale "The Six Swans" (or "the Wild Swans") in a way that makes you feel the literal pain that both the sister and the six brothers feel as they work to break a curse on their family.  In the process they are all presented with very real set-backs and trials.  Please note that this book contains references to torture and rape.  While it is a fairy tale, I would not recommend this book to young readers.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Torture, and Abandonment

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, and War

Minor: Racism, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

e_claire's review

adventurous emotional mysterious slow-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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Violence, Xenophobia, and War

deathmetalpainter's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical trauma, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail