Reviews tagging 'Classism'

The Dance Tree by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

4 reviews

lorriss's review

emotional tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Blood, Cannibalism, Alcohol, War, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Slavery, Excrement, Alcohol, and Colonisation

edamamebean's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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

4.75

Every once in awhile a book comes along that makes reading feel like a fever. This was definitely one of those books, once I was reading it I couldn’t stop and the ending brought tears to my eyes. I highly recommend but please check the content warnings before picking this one up!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Outing, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Classism

jesselynn's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

A very emotive and dramatic story set in and around Strasbourg in 1518, at the time of the infamous Dancing Plague.

We follow Lisbet, a heavily pregnant young woman who keeps bees alongside her husband and mother-in-law. Lisbet is desperate for her unborn child's survival, due to multiple previous miscarriages, which wounds her and familial relationships deeply. When her husband's sister Agnethe returns from seven years in the mountains atoning for a mysterious sin, the path of her life is forever changed.

The content is very emotionally stimulating, with really moving and detailed language and a narrative that is very centred around Lisbet's feelings and emotional state. The cast of characters are interesting, with Lisbet's sister-in-law Nethe being a favourite of mine. The story explores a very harrowing sapphic relationship, as well as themes of religious fervour, immigration and xenophobia. The story is not an account of the Dancing Plague as such, but the events of the summer and strange event are an atmospheric setting, the rhythm of the dance weaved throughout Lisbet's story in interludes. The novel is much more character focused than a simple retelling, which I liked. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys historical fiction, especially women's historical fiction. Tread carefully if pregnancy, infertility and miscarriage is a trigger point for you. 

Thanks to Picador for the reading copy in exchange for an honest review. I'll definitely be recommending this one to my customers and am looking forward to future works from Kiran Millwood Hargrave!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

gurofl's review

emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I generally liked this book while listening to it, but was a bit frustrated with it around the middle. There were sections where I felt the characters thought or acted for the sole purpose of advancing the plot in a certain direction, which for me makes characters two-dimensional and less believable. (I also don't like villains who are pure evil. I like them to be more interesting). What was supposed to be the big reveal in the middle of the book, was pretty obvious, so the mystery of it bored me, but after we got that out of the way, I really liked getting to know the characters and their interactions better. 
So I at first thought this was an ok read, but I find that I've been thinking about this book and especially the main character a lot after finishing it, and that I like it better now than I did immediately after finishing it. In the middle I thought this would be a 3🌟 read, but I now thinks it's a solid 4🌟. 
(Loads of content warnings for this book! It's not an easy read.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Toxic relationship, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism