Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke

38 reviews

nikki_dun's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Gore, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Vomit

thegouldfish's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

The themes of this book - Scottish witch trials, false accusation of innocent people, single parenthood - are good and important. The story is largely compelling but for me it lost intrigue when the main mechanism was revealed. The writing is choppy in places (landscape features are described four times throughout as ‘muscular’, for example, and the use of tenses and persons is a bit incongruous) but nice in others and effectively builds the setting and tension.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Torture, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Confinement, Miscarriage, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Pandemic/Epidemic

echolliot's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Terminal illness, Blood, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Drug use, Miscarriage, Grief, and Alcohol

friendly_neighborhood_grandma's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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? No

5.0

Captivating story, distinct characters and a very original and well executed idea. It's exactly what I was looking for!
Medieval witches, eerie but not horror scary. Just my thing. I recommend this to people looking for a mystery, the vibes of stormy shores and creepy small isolated island. Also joy and hardships of single parenting. Enjoy!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Torture, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug use, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

Creepy kid behavior Children missing

matcha_cat's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Death, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Medical content, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

ghostams's review

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-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

5.0

I really enjoyed this book! It was a really interesting take on folklore, magic, and science! I have to say up until the last 50 or so pages, I wasn’t sure which way the plot was leaning which is really impressive! This was a book equally heart-wrenching and heart-warming. One that, in my opinion, is a truly unique take on the subjects it contains!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Drug use, and Abandonment

Minor: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Vomit, Medical content, and Car accident

cassie7e's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

"Sometimes you miss someone so badly you want to believe you've found them" A sneaky line that nails the theme of the whole story.

Starts off with a literary tone that could be any other novel spanning multiple timeframes, getting creepier and darker as you go, ramping up the horror at the end. The sci fi aspects wouldn't hold up in a pure sci fi novel I think, but since this one stands on folklore, I didn't give it too much scrutiny for being flimsy on the science. 

This book satisfied my hankering for a dark mysterious story blending Scottish settings, and folktale with reality, and was crafted well to reveal bits and pieces throughout. My early hunch about what was happening with the wildlings was correct, but it took time to know that, and was still enjoyable to watch as the characters figured it out and dealt with the consequences. I wish the witchy parts had been more Scottish than Icelandic/Nordic, just for personal reasons and not any fault of the story in using them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

Minor: Miscarriage and Death of parent

swordsmith's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.75

i think the ending wraps up a little too neatly and there are a few holes in the set up but otherwise its very atmospheric and jumps between different characters/settings quite well. becomes a mildly gothic pageturner

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Miscarriage and Death of parent

graceev's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Physical abuse, Medical content, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Moderate: Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug use

Sister disappeared, Smoking, Missing people

bibliobetty's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I don't typically read thrillers so am not overly familiar with the genre. That being said, I loved the multiple POVs and settings. The author really has a way with words and really set the mood and made everything feel dark and moody as needed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death and Abandonment

Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Suicide, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent