Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Banitka by Anna North

27 reviews

hmatt's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

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

3.0

I love the concept of this story so much, and it had so much potential. The world-building is super well done, and I love alternate histories. Unfortunately, I came away with the feeling that the author tried to fit so much world and plot in that these got in the way of both the actual storytelling and the character-building.

Storytelling
I feel like the author was trying to fit too many events into too short of a narrative. This might have been okay, but there were so many minor events that I think we should have spent less time on, and a number of climactic events that we spent barely any time on whatsoever. A lot of these major events "fade to black" as soon as the action starts, and then we are caught up on what happened in retrospect later on - I was REALLY not a fan of this technique, and I don't think it made sense for the "western" genre.

Character-building
We do get a lot of information on most of the characters but, again, it's almost too much for how short of a book it is. What we lose out on, in my opinion, is a more profound emotional connection with the main character. We don't really dwell on her losses or feel them with her, which is extra strange given the whole novel is told in first-person.

TL;DR
The idea behind the novel is fantastic, but it tries to fit too much in. The concepts it seeks to explore are really only half-fleshed-out and the characters are hard to relate to, simply because the plot moves on too fast to hold space for these introspections.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Animal death and Drug abuse

CWs non-exhaustive

denizens98's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective tense 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Excrement, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, Outing, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

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

anickerson's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility

Moderate: Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Domestic abuse

abookandaspotoftea's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Lesbophobia

katrinaward's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infertility and Sexual assault

Minor: Death, Domestic abuse, and Abortion

rheagoveas's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring slow-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Misogyny

emsim's review against another edition

sad tense medium-paced

The Handmaid's Tale but make it a western, with a dash of Station Eleven.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Medical content, Grief, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

shelbo's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

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

4.0

I raced through this book. It has so many compelling themes (alternate history, religious extremism, feminist take on classic Westerns) and really interesting characters who bring the themes to life. Really enjoyed it overall, but the ending felt a little too hastily wrapped up to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Religious bigotry, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Homophobia and Transphobia

Minor: Domestic abuse

rishel's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring sad 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? No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Racism, Rape, Transphobia, and Abortion

Minor: Sexual violence and Suicide