Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Banitka by Anna North

23 reviews

lovejasmine's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

2.0

The biggest problem with this book is that it could have been so much better than it was. It could have been so inclusive and intersectional and diverse, and could have been a beautiful, in depth story of marginalised people coming together in a world that hates them.

Instead, we got the barest hint of that, with a very self centred, very white narrator that was, honestly, kind of boring.

The worst thing about this book was it wasn't bad. It just could have been incredible.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Outing, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

horizonous's review against another edition

Reading about misogyny through the window of "you're only a woman if you (can) give birth (to as many children as possible)" and everything regarding pregnancies, miscarriages, abortions in detail makes me deeply uncomfortable. Also, I think I had it with religious bigotry of this type for a while since I read "Under the Banner of Heaven" by Jon Krakauer.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility and Misogyny

Moderate: Child death, Infidelity, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Child abuse, Death, Miscarriage, and Rape

ellaensorcelee's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Sexism, Violence, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

cheye13's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring 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

This was very engaging and a fresh take on the genre. It's gave me exactly what I'd been missing from Sarah Gailey's Upright Women Wanted. The world was tangible, and I especially appreciated how well nuances were conveyed – depression, bisexuality, gender identity – without the vocabulary we use.

That being said, I don't think western stories are really for me? There's always such a deep pain and/or hopelessness within them that never seems to hit my catharsis button. This one came very close with each of the outlaw's backstories, but the ultimate plot just left me with, "Well. Okay."

This was definitely my favorite western I've ever read, though. Leagues above.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Misogyny, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Blood, Grief, Abortion, and Pregnancy

Minor: Ableism, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Incest, Infidelity, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol

ableism wrt: implied bipolar disorder (or perhaps other psychosis), implied post partum depression medical/injury content wrt: gunshot wounds, childbirth & miscarriage, castration, hypothermia, various illnesses

emily_madcharo's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racism, Rape, Abortion, Suicide attempt, and Murder

nothingforpomegranted's review against another edition

2.25

Ostensibly set in a mostly-dystopian 1894 Texas town that places a premium on women's ability to bear children and suspects infertile women of witchcraft, this book is narrated by Ada, a seventeen-year-old wife and midwife's apprentice who has been exiled from her community after a year of marriage with no child. Passionate about science and serving women, Ada finds herself in the company of the Hole in the Wall gang, a group of outlawed outsiders with a flexible and fluid approach to gender, love, sex, and justice. 

This feminist take on a Western novel, filled with crime, adventure, and challenging authority, was certainly creative, but I was quite the right audience for it. Indeed, I was so distracted by the references to race, doctors, baby Jesus, the Flu and Fever, and the seeming dissolution of the United States that I was almost more focused on trying to figure out whether this was a dystopian alternative history (a Confederate win in the Civil War?) or a dystopian future (post COVID-19?), and I'm honestly still confused. 

I also was pretty confused by the role of religion and by all of the characters. There were many, each with a painful background, but none was particularly well-developed, and the sub-plots detracted rather than added to the story. The one exception to this, in my opinion, was Lark's story, which surprised and intrigued me, but he, too, was an underdeveloped character who stuck around too briefly. 

I appreciate the reviewer who acknowledged that this book offers a different take on the Hole in the Wall gang. I had no idea that this gang was a real concept and really disappointed that there was no Author's Note explaining that research and that choice (which guess means this is an alt-history novel?). 

I picked this up because I needed a quick read to help propel me out of a slump (too many classics in a row/at a time can do that to you), and it was definitely successful in that respect. The story was engaging enough and kept me turning the pages for the few hours that this took to finish, but ultimately, I think Anna North bit off more than she could chew--infertility, religion, feminism, justice, gender fluidity, insomnia, mental health, medicine, mothering, Western adventure--and it really didn't work for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Religious bigotry, and Abortion

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Incest, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

rigbees's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-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

4.0

A barren woman flees first to a convent, then to a life as an outlaw in this novel set in the 1890s midwest US. The story that follows is a gripping outlaw tale, filled with disguises, wagon chases, and living life as a wanted criminal sought by multiple towns. It also is a story about a close-knit group of women and trans masc people trying to find identities when they'd been kicked out by towns that raised them. It portrays a complex life that doesn't gloss over the struggles of survival, while also valuing what it means to survive outside the norm. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Miscarriage, Racism, Abortion, and Murder

Moderate: Homophobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, and Medical trauma

Minor: Child death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Police brutality

internationalreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring fast-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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Murder

perstephone's review against another edition

adventurous sad fast-paced

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

3.5

"Knowledge can be very valuable...but only if people want it."

I give Outlawed
🌟🌟🌟✨ 3.5/5 (rounded up)

⚠️TW: abortion, miscarrying, and mainly infertility are constant themes and subject matters throughout this story as a whole. If those are sensitive subjects for you or are just things you'd rather not read, this may not be the book for you.

I give 3.5/5 because while the story is an original one, that takes inspiration from history and makes it its own; I was left at the end with loose ends unfinished.
🌻🌻🌻

- Not a particularly long story, 12 chapters total, but still full of action, adventure, and steady pacing that gives course of events a natural feel.

- This is not your typical western, nor is it a factual account of the Hole in the Wall Gang. It is inspiration, and other than some names of characters, the similarities pretty much stop there.

- Women posse, women posse, women posse!!! 😎

- year 1894-95, LGBTQA+ representation.

- women taking control of their own bodies, their own fates, proving that they are just as capable as anyone else in an era that only saw women as "good for" maybe a handful of things.

- Felt a little lacking in POC representation if I'm being honest.

- Interactions between characters and the society as a whole felt genuine and on par for how things were done or viewed, especially regarding women, and what they were valued for.

- A bit melancholy of an ending, but a suitable one all things considered.

 There are enough loose ends that I still want answers for, and some things plain left unfinished, but this story is still really original and worth a gander. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Sexism, Sexual content, Blood, and Abortion

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Blood, and Medical trauma

eve_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.0

Overall Thoughts:
⁕ My favorite things about this book are how diverse the cast of female characters are and how the historical/events practices in it are viewed through a more critical social justice lens.
⁕ The plot meandered and felt very slow. It didn’t seem like the story was really going anywhere until the last 3rd of the book.
⁕ There are 2-3 important scenes that the narrator skips over and then explains passively after the action occurred. This had the effect of taking the punch and excitement out of the story for me.
⁕ This book is PACKED with descriptions of scenery and nature. To each their own, but I got kinda bored with it.

To read my full review, visit: https://evereads681579800.wordpress.com
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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Mental illness, Racism, Sexism, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Gun violence, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Child death and Miscarriage

Additional Content Warnings: childbirth, genital mutilation