Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson

49 reviews

satanstan's review

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adventurous dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

Handmaidens Tale meets The VVitch meets cliche YA fantasy. The characters are part of a puritan religion that mirrors fundamentalist Mormonism. The folk horror atmosphere at the beginning drew me in but I ended up so disappointed by the plot. I thought this was developing into a story about female rage and a reckoning for religious abusers. I was sorely mistaken
In the end the witches, the feminine embodiment of god, are the enemy? What about the male god? The witches, who were trying to protect and avenge the tortured women in the community, are murdered by the hero? The prophet is shown mercy? Ezra, the prophets heir, becomes the new leader instead of Imanuelle, the woman who saved everybody? Are you fucking kidding me? Misogynistic trash.
I haven’t been this mad at a book since I read The Midnight Library. Not to mention, the writing is simple, redundant, and occasionally erroneous. Definitely reads like a YA with potholes to boot. 
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peax33's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.75

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lite_academic's review against another edition

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dark hopeful inspiring fast-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? It's complicated

3.5

The Year of Witching has everything that an engrossing novel should have: a relatable protagonist, a sweet and selfless best friend, a charming love interest, a power-hungry villain, and a haunting (and haunted) deep dark forest. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the audiobook, not the least because of a wonderful narrator, Brianna Colette, who did a fantastic job. 

I also genuinely appreciated the difficult themes that the book touched on. The Year of Witching explores religious cults both from the standpoint of their isolationism and of violence, especially violence against women, that’s perpetrated behind the barred walls of their compounds. Race, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and otherness get explored in a way that is very relatable and personal. Despite addressing these difficult subjects, The Year of Witching never stoops to gratuitous portrayal of abuse—the unspeakable is more often than not a fade-to-black scene where the reader is left to imagine the atrocities committed against the powerless and disenfranchised. 

Unfortunately, the book is not perfect. First, the world feels hastily built. The backstories of characters are left unexplored. Supernatural gifts are unexplained. The mythology is far from fleshed out. Similarly, the motivations of many characters, especially historical characters, are left unexplored. The narrative itself presents ample opportunities for worldbuilding and inexplicably chooses to pass them up. Why were the witches slaughtered by the first prophet? Does the story truly require their transformation from victims of unspeakable violence to animal-like agents of terror? What happens to “extra” boys in this polygamous community where nearly every man takes more than one wife? What is the relationship between the two gods? How do they choose when to bestow power and when to take it away? So much more could have been done to flesh out this parallel universe and to answer these questions, especially because both the writing and the characters are compelling enough to easily carry 100 to 200 more pages of much-needed context. 

To me, this was a sold three-and-a-half star read: enjoyable, compulsively readable, but missing that thoroughness and depth that could take it to the next level. With that said, I am absolutely a fan of Alexis Henderson and I look forward to see where she goes next. 
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rustbeltcoastie's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I cannot recommend this book highly enough! It subverted so many of my expectations.
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aubdotcom's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.75

Soooo good! Kept me on the edge of my seat!
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charliebites's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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jht5791's review against another edition

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dark sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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historic_wince's review against another edition

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2.75

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agnela's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Loved this! I'm so too old for most YA these days, but this was fine, maybe except the romantic undertones. It had creepy forest, witches, old diaries, spells, biracial and queer characters, social and feminist problems. 
This was the first book ever made me sick to my stomach. 
But the ending was meh, so meh that it lost a star for me. Kind of lazy all is well let's leave it to maybe having a sequel ending. I was rooting for revenge and blood and.... I did not get it. Idk if it was rushed or did the author felt bored by her story at this point but meh. 
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cyannaslibrary's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes

4.5

➵ 4.5 stars

I didn't like the ending.
Despite all of what the Prophet has done to her and her family, Immauelle chooses to spare. Like huh? This man literally took advantage of her best friend and got her pregnant which indirectly led to her death. Did I mention he also killed her parents? This man does not deserve mercy. But I'm pretty sure if they killed him off, there wouldn't be much room for a second book.
At first, I felt bad for the witches, but I realized they're no better than the people of Bethel. They turned on Immauelle the second after she didn't comply with them.
Even killed her grandfather.
 They took advantage of Miriam, Immauelle's mother, when she was at her lowest and manipulated her.

Overall, I liked this book but I don't think it needs a second book.
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