Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'
Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft by Jessica Spotswood, Tess Sharpe
5 reviews
percys_panda_pillow_pet's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
So, I won't go through every single story in this collection, as that would be too much for one review, I will just pick my favorite and least favorite story, to the best of my ability.
There were so many good stories in here, it really is hard to say I have a favorite, especially when each one tackled different themes and ideas, and utilized different settings and characters. But I think if I had to choose, I could definitely say that The Heart in Her Hands by Tessa Sharpe is up for contention! I just loved the way that magic was portrayed and used in this story, and I am always a sucker for not just Sapphic romance, but also choosing your love over what the fates say. I also really liked the personification of Fate as a more antagonist figure; usually, in stories of witchcraft, fate is equal to karma, something that many witches believe in. So this was a really unique take for me. And finally, I just loved the end of the story, it was the perfect conclusion.
For my least favorite story, unfortunately, there is no contest for it; I did not like The Moonapple Menagerie by Shveta Thakrar. I thought the idea was interesting and unique, and the characters were lovely. But I just felt very overwhelmed with all the sudden worldbuilding in the story and had trouble differentiating between the story itself and the play the characters were supposed to be putting on. I couldn't really follow what was happening easily and just couldn't wait until it was over so I could get to the next story. Either the story needed to be a novel or the author needed to cut some darlings to clear things up. There's also the possibility that this isn't the story for me and that's okay. As I've said, there's no guarantee you'll like every story in a collection, so the fact that only one didn't vibe with me was actually a really good thing.
If you like witches (and feminism as they do often go hand-in-hand) I have to recommend this collection to you, especially if you're looking to get into reading more short stories. I wish I could read more of each of these awesome characters and worlds, and that's how I know these authors did a great job. To finish things off, I will say that my favorite witch is Akko from Little Witch Academia.
Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Miscarriage, Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Death, Confinement, and Animal death
Moderate: Transphobia, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Bullying, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Rape
msradiosilence's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Read my full review at: https://www.rainyreader.com/single-post/toil-and-trouble
Graphic: Drug use, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Death, Sexual content, Suicide, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Car accident, Animal cruelty, Addiction, Homophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder
abception's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Starsong by Tehlor Kay Mejia (aka sapphic trauma-ridden astrologist flirts with some Insta NASA troll): 2.5 stars!
- I didn't love this story, but didn't hate it either; I was really just indifferent to it
- I absolutely loved this one! I'm a big fan of Salem/witch trials-themed stories, so this story was absolutely perfect for me.
- When I read this sapphic glory, I doubted anything else in the collection could top it... before I encountered even more sapphic glory later on...
- I didn't hate it, I didn't love it. I felt it was much too big a concept to do in such a short word count.
- I loved how complicated and messy the emotional undertone of the story was, but I still felt like it was missing something.
- I wanted to like this much more than I did - the concept is something that very much did appeal to me, but the execution just didn't spark with me.
- I really, really enjoyed this one! Sapphics + small town vibes + angry women = >:)
- Definitely should have come with a TW for SA.
- I could see what the author was going for, but I think they really missed the mark - in the end, the story just left me feeling very uncomfortable.
- Genuinely just not even memorable - like, fr, I cannot even remember what this was about, just that I was very confused while reading it.
- This was another one that I read and thought would not be topped (until I continued) - the plot, admittedly, was pretty standard fare for YA; but, the writing was just chef's kiss, bellissimo! I loved it!
- This one was a funky read for me. I'm usually not a fan of frontier/Western-type fiction, but I actually really enjoyd this one! It gave off Holes by Louis Sachar vibes, if ya feel me.
- I just felt really ambivalent and underwhelmed by this one, tbh.
- Classic McLemore! Trans glory at it's finest!
- This one was just so FREAKING SOFT AND EMOTIONAL! I actually could have cried, it resonated so well! I adored it!
- Gayest sh*t I ever done read. I loved it. Actually perfect. My favourite story of the bunch.
- Am I about to bingeread everything by May and become a stan in the new year: probably.
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Domestic abuse
eviecook0708's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Confinement
Moderate: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Religious bigotry, and Sexual assault
Minor: Car accident and Animal death
kodiex's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Blood and Cancer