Reviews with content warning for Miscarriage - The Year of the Witching

Reviews tagging 'Miscarriage'

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson

10 reviews

nightmarebees's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

this is a DEBUT?? my jaw is hanging open. i knew i would love this from the first few chapters, and i was not disappointed. exactly the witchy, cultish, don't-go-in-the-woods read i needed to kickstart yearning for fall. i personally was destined to love this book just based on vibes and wheelhouse items, but it also twisted classic themes in a new enough way to feel fresh.

"Some of them were innocent, others complicit; still more were caught in the gray between right and wrong. Few were wholly blameless, and none were free of sin. But there wasn't a single soul in that sanctuary she would condemn to the ruin that now lay before them."

the overarching conflicts of this book are, at a glance, rather dichotomous. black vs white, church vs occult, women vs men, etc. however, henderson has written them into the world of bethel with careful thought and complexity. immanuelle herself is a study in plurality: mixed race, both witch and faithful. the sides of her family aren't pitted against each other with a clear 'bad guy'. vera accepts immanuelle entirely, doesn't conform to the violence of the church, but also hesitates to help save the people who her granddaughter loves. the moores are outwardly loyal to a corrupt prophet, but they still love immanuelle, have raised her as their own and do eventually stand by her in the end. even ezra is the rebellious son, the heir who claims to see everything wrong with his father's reign, but is willing to try and run away, protect himself and immanuelle alone at the expense of those still oppressed in bethel.

there wasn't a moment of this i wasn't excited to be reading. alexis henderson you are an auto-buy author now for sure

Content Warnings

annabellw06_'s review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I wish the ending was stronger. I understand that setting up for a sequel is important but so is ending a book properly.

Content Warnings

ladydianna1600's review

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dark slow-paced

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

3.0

This book started out rather slow for me, and to be honest, if I were not listening to an audiobook, I would have DNF'd it. As it were, sometimes when I started the audiobook up again after the previous day, I thought maybe I missed part of it but then I rewound and realized I hadn't. I just wasn't that interested in remembering what happened. The plot picked up, however, about half way through, and I was more invested. It was an overall enjoyable read but not sure I was really invested in any of the characters other than HATING the prophet, but that is because that character reminds me so much of religious leaders in our "church" who I grew up with. I haven't decided if I will read the second book yet. I have so many other things on my TBR to get through first.

Content Warnings