Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by Brom

209 reviews

cheesy_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

4.0

Turns out the devil is extremely girlie pop once you give him a flower crown 

This was really fun and also very different from what I expected. The first half is pretty slow moving and it honestly stopped feeling spooky even before that. I was a little sad the spookiness didn’t last longer but I still really enjoyed the story! 

Def check trigger warnings. There’s some graphic gore and violence

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

emmalizzz's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring sad tense slow-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

5.0

I’m in love. This is the perfect book for October. Dark, colonial, magical horror. Witch trials, the devil, friendship, the spirit of women, the wonder of nature, this has it all. I don’t know how else to describe it. I love Abitha, I love Samson, I love little Creek and Sky and even Forest. Absolutely bewitching.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, and Religious bigotry

coveredinsnow's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

kasiaguzior's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I would highly recommend this book. It is very dark and spooky, includes descriptions of gore, but was not the kind of scary that makes it hard to sleep at night or scared to walk down the street in the dark. It also has interesting folklore-ish exploration of spirituality and its intersection with folklore and native lands. I also loved that it has author-created paintings of the characters.  The plot is very fast and plot driven, it is an easy read.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Blood

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Torture, and Colonisation

Minor: Sexism and Religious bigotry

Includes disturbing descriptions of insects including mosquitos and beetles entering human body orifices including mouth and throat at the end.

adventurouspotato's review against another edition

dark medium-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? It's complicated

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Torture, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Confinement

Minor: Colonisation

emmmaustin's review against another edition

Animal cruelty 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Misogyny, Torture, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Death

chasinggrace's review against another edition

dark tense 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? No

4.0

A really good read for the Halloween season. If you’ve ever been interested in the Salem Witch Trials, this was hauntingly accurate. So atmospheric. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

dymonlikestoread's review against another edition

challenging dark funny sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

✨Book Review✨

Slewfoot 

Author: BROM

Rating: 4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis: Abitha is trying to find her place amongst the extremely religious Puritans after being married off to a kind stranger Edward. But when Edward mysteriously dies. Abitha fights for her freedom to keep her and Edward’s farm. Ostracized and singled out by her peers Abitha is broken until a powerful entity Slewfoot appears.

“ but this belief this absolute conviction that the evil they were doing was good, was God’s work – how, she wondered, how could such a dark conviction ever be overcome?”

Abitha was a fantastic FMC. I felt both her outrage and confusion about her place amongst the Puritans, especially once Edward passed. I truly believe Abitha was trying to find comfort in God but constantly questioned her faith because of the Puritan's actions that contradicted what the Bible stated. 

It’s mind-boggling to see the contradictions and self-convincing tactics Puritans used to convince themselves they weren’t doing anything wrong.

“Angels must often do dark deeds in the name of the Lord, “ Magistrate Watson added. “Do they not ?”

I really liked Samson but Abitha was the star. And I think her revenge was only fair. I also really liked Edward and I thought he was so sweet 🥲. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

mijtje's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

Slewfoot is a historical novel about Abitha who tries to reconcile her Christian beliefs with her Pagan roots while living in a rigid puritan town in the mid 1600s. Her story intertwines with that of Father/Samson, a supernatural being who awakes without memory and isn’t sure whether he’s an evil demon or a benevolent spirit. Together, they explore who they are and try to find their way in life. 

I finished this book rather quickly and found it to be very captivating, but have still settled at 3 stars. The modern morals of Abitha felt out of place — her shock at the arranged marriage of a 17 year old, for example. At times it also felt like a bit of a cheap jab at Christianity. The author tried to weave in some deeper considerations about God and religion, but

in between all the torture and gore of the last third of the book

, that message fell a bit flat for me. The ending was definitely not for me either,

I don’t like revenge stories

.

If you enjoy these kind of dark fantasy stories, the themes sound appealing to you, and you are on the hunt for a witchy read this fall; give this a try, you will enjoy it. If not, you’re not missing too much.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Torture, Violence, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Domestic abuse and Death of parent

whitneyonline's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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? Yes

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Colonisation