Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Extasia by Claire Legrand

10 reviews

ghostlyprince's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

3.5

 

Spoiler

I'd rate this higher if it wasn't for the constant sexual content of minor characters :/

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Gore, Animal death, Cannibalism, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Torture, Body horror, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Confinement, and Self harm

Minor: Homophobia and Lesbophobia

Honestly there is so much heavy stuff in this book it'd be impossible to list it all, this book is not for the feint of heart and if any of the tw's contain a trigger of yours I'd advise to steer clear from the book, it's a good book but it's extremely heavy and disturbing

sarah984's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

1.0

I was so excited to read this because I loved Sawkill Girls but this book did not work for me.

First of all I think it's kind of cowardly to set this book in the context it winds up being set in and not explicitly make the cult religion Christianity. The society isn't described particularly well; the book is so long and drags on but so many things are glossed over so there's not much of an idea what their everyday life is like. I kind of wish that Amity had had a few "normal" visitations and other duties as a saint before it all hit the fan.

The characters are all cardboard cutouts (the only one I found mildly interesting was the

Spoiler

second POV character

and she's only in a couple of chapters near the end), the witches feel pointless (their entire role could easily have been fulfilled by other characters who were already present) and the romance is very silly.

The magic system isn't well set up and basically just works however the plot needs it to. The plot itself just does whatever to get to the next point - I never understood why Amity was so set on meeting the devil in the first place.

Also it's annoying going into a book that says it's about revenge and righteous anger and then having the message be that we need to be nice to bigots because maybe they don't know that racism and misogyny are bad. I almost wish racism hadn't come up at all because it's handled so clumsily

Spoiler

- there are like 3 (marginally) important Black characters because the founders of Amity's cult were white supremacists, but of those characters 1 dies and 1 is a villain, and since Amity only even found out Black people existed like last week the cult's racism isn't super plot relevant. Two different revolutions happen basically off page so the author doesn't have to try and explain how they did that without hurting anyone's feelings.

Also the sequel hook was stupid. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, and Child death

Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Body horror, Blood, Bullying, Cannibalism, Confinement, Grief, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Racism, and Self harm

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Vomit, and War

archaicrobin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.0

I was a little weary after hearing this was YA because every YA I read usually ends up being some cliche love triangle filled with tropes, so I was happily surprised when Extasia was so visceral and original. 

Set in a misogynistic utopia of the future called Haven, Amity is a devout follower of God, even allowing herself to be beaten weakly to atone for her womanly sins. However, once she stumbles upon a coven in the woods and her own powers, Amity starts to realize that everything she once believed is a lie. 

Extasia does not shy away from the horror in Haven, and at times I had to remind myself that yes even though I just read about someone’s bones being snapped in half this is a YA book! It was genuinely eerie and disturbing, and the characters were not only lovable but diverse! So much representation in this book, and it’s done so well. 

I highly recommend this one! Only reason I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars, is because towards the end the story tends to drag on and I feel like it could have ended much 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Gore, Grief, Misogyny, Sexism, Death, Domestic abuse, Classism, Confinement, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Body horror, Sexual violence, Violence, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Emotional abuse

jednakniekinga's review

dark tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Religious bigotry, Torture, Physical abuse, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Death, Child death, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Confinement, and Infidelity

Minor: Homophobia and Sexual harassment

micaelamariem's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.0

 

Last month, I ordered a one-time book box from the Unplugged Book Box. They are a book box focused on self-care, and in it I recieved beautiful smelling lotion and perfume as well as a copy of Extasia by Claire Legrand (published by Katherine Tegan Books). Due to the packaging, it made the read even more pleasant with a heady aroma on each page.

But more about the actual book.

Claire Legrand is a former musican turned author with eleven published novels under her belt. She tends to focus on darker and grittier subjects for middle grade and young adult audiences. However, her debut into the adult fantasy world is coming with the Middlemist trilogy, releasing in spring 2023.

Extasia is a young adult horror novel with a specific focus on religious trauma. When the World That Once Was came to an end, God spared one community of people to create Haven and live by His ways. The main character, who goes through a series of names, is about to be annointed a Saint. She hopes with her sainthood she can stop the evil that has been leaking into her village, killing men. But there are dark beasts that follow her and a dark power seeks her out.

I am quite new to the horror genre as a reader. I’ve always interacted with horror tv shows and haunted houses and reading dark fantasy, but I haven’t read a lot of actual horror. So, I’m not quite sure by what criteria I should review this by. It did have a great gothic dark atmosphere, perfect for the witchiness of the plotline. There were also plenty of gory scenes, for those more inclined to body horror. I will say that I personally didn’t find it scary so much as compelling and enticing, where I wanted to turn the pages to see what happens next. However, I’m weird and don’t scare by things that ought to be scary.

I also loved the themes of this book. As someone that has encountered a bit of religious trauma myself, I am curious and like to read about religious horror or books with religious themes–whether for good or for bad. But what really drew me in was the main character’s lesson that things in the world was not all black and white and that perhaps we all have a darkness inside of us.

I thought the main character’s development was really done as she went from someone blindly following what she’d been taught to opening her eyes and questioning everything, even herself. The other characters, however, were not as nuanced. Still, my favorite characters–Blessing and Samuel–didn’t disappoint me.

There were a few minor things that bothered me about this book. It bothered me that all the feminine names were nouns–Temperance, Rage, Hunger, Blessing, etc. It felt like we were too on the nose with these names, really overteaching the lessons of the book with their name changes. There were also a few minor inconsistencies–like when the girls had to write something and could despite saying they never learned their letters. And also, the main character’s father didn’t make sense to me, in some ways. There were a few scenes that made his whole arc confusing to me.

Overall, I’m giving this book three stars. It was good and I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t something I’m obsessed with nor can I ignore the flaws.

Some other forms of art this book reminded of: The Grace Year by Kim Liggett, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, The 100.

Trigger warnings: body horror/gore; violence against women; domestic violence; forced imprisonment; attempted rape; torture; cannibalism; someone being burnt alive; death of a parent; religious trauma. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Blood, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Religious bigotry, Gore, Sexism, Torture, Violence, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Bullying, Cannibalism, Infidelity, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Homophobia, Rape, Child death, and Sexual assault

maple_dove's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? No

5.0

Extasia by Claire Legrand is about a girl joining a coven to save her village from the Devil.

I Liked:

• Puritanism is not the same as modern Christianity, though, I find that some bigoted themes are shared in both. I like how this book confronted them numerous times.
• Spoiler

  The hero to morally grey character to hero arc! I've always wanted to do that!
• Spoiler

  The CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!!! Amity to Rage? Hell yeah!
• The LGBTQ+ representation

I Didn't Like:

Hmmmmmm.

Spoiler

I was kind of caught off guard with the revelation of another civilization near Haven.

Spoiler

And--I know I said I liked the hero to morally grey character to hero arc, but it all went by so fast and I was so caught up in Rage's morally grey self, that it kind of felt like . . . a letdown?

Quotes:

Spoiler

"You were not there. He was going to hurt Hun--He was going to hurt Blessing."
"And so you decided you would be the one to cast judgment on him? You alone would choose his fate?"
"Blessing asked him to stop. He would not listen. He beat her, and beat me." I point at my face. "I did not give myself bruises!"
"He was with Blessing, you say."
"Yes, in the barn. They were . . . " I clench my fists, nails into palms. "They were lying together. My sister wished to stop. He would not."
Samuel looks aghast. "Your sister was lying with him. She agreed to lie with him, and then she wished to stop."
"As anyone might wish to stop eating, or drinking, or wish to stop sitting and stand up instead! What if I told you I was no longer hungry, and you kept shoving food into my mouth all the same?"
"That is different, Amity."
"How? Tell me."
He looks away, but I will not allow him to hide. I rush around to stand before him. "Tell me!"
"Because she is a girl unwed," he bursts out, "and yet she chose to lie with Adam. She chose lust over virtue, when that is one of the very things that brought The World That Once Was to ruin!" (pg. 286)

Spoiler

RELIGIOUS TEXTS NEVER justify ignorance of consent and attempted rape.

Other comments:

On the second day's night I was reading, I COULD NOT PUT THIS BOOK DOWN! AHHHHHHHHHHHH

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Violence, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Animal death, Homophobia, Infidelity, and Sexual content

Minor: Physical abuse

Purity culture (graphic), Attempted rape (graphic), Sex scene

simplyammee's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Torture, Murder, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Body horror, Infidelity, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cannibalism, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

midnightgremlin's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death of parent, Grief, Violence, Terminal illness, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Infidelity, Homophobia, Blood, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, and Physical abuse

malusetdenarii's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring medium-paced

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

5.0

GUTTING-I can't wait for the finished version but loved the ARC! Zero regrets about placing a pre order every time Legrand announces a new book coming out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Body horror, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Cannibalism, Confinement, Cursing, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, Torture, Violence, and War

Minor: Animal death, Vomit, Sexual assault, Self harm, and Racism

RELIGIOUS TRAUMA

leahjanespeare's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Saint Amity has been taught little about the war that destroyed the world but spared her small village of Haven. Good thing the witches arrive to dissolve her of those illusions and join her in a quest to appeal to the Devil. As the story closely examines indoctrination, belief-systems, and violence, there will be no settling answers within these pages, only a genre-defying dish of Palahniuk-esque disturbing content with a side of chilled blood. Mind. Blown. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Torture, Religious bigotry, Blood, Death, and Child death

Moderate: Sexual assault, Animal death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, and Physical abuse

Minor: Cannibalism and Infidelity