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cab15's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
2.25
Moderate: Rape and Suicide
amyableamy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Rape, Suicide, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Animal death and Death of parent
emkam's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Infertility, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism
thequeercaseofmarius's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
The romance aspect was pretty sweet, however I do think Daniel was too selfless and was giving up too much for Sarah from the get-go; much like Peeta did in the first Hunger Games book. I just don’t see this trope as realistic or healthy, and it gives young readers the idea that a girl being rude to a guy is just evidence that she’s wildly attracted to him and he should just be more smothering and insistent. Also, the cunning folk in this story work with the devil, and I’m pretty sure cunning folk are not demonic in real life so I found that aspect of the story disappointing.
But as I said this isn’t the usual kind of stuff I read, and I still thought it was an enjoyable novel. If you like romance, history, and folklore, you’d probably enjoy Cunning Women.
Edit: I was right! Sources and evidence from the appropriate time periods show that Cunning folk practised Christianity, and even called upon saints in the conjuring of folk magic. There has been some popular arguments originating from the Victorian era that say that accused witches had been practicing pagans, and even that the devil is a Christian reimagining of a pagan deity. I think these are the theories that Cunning Women was based upon, but most modern historians don’t believe the surviving paganism theory to be true and I don’t either.
Graphic: Animal death, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Abortion, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Death of parent
amethyst1551's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Moderate: Rape and Suicide
happyladyjadereads's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Rape
guinevere_s1994's review against another edition
2.75
The writing style continued to bother me a little. there was a handful of passages I had to reread as the way sentences are broken up makes it difficult to follow the story easily sometimes but as I was reading an ARC I suspect there might be some further editing to go through yet.
To finish off, I would probably recommend this book to anyone looking for a short-ish standalone story that has some challenging moments throughout but has you routing for the main characters and leaves you with a sense of hope at the end.
Graphic: Death and Blood
Moderate: Cursing, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Grief