Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Sorcières by Mona Chollet

14 reviews

jue_mo's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Violence, Medical trauma, and Murder

evawondergem's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Medical content

madmantha's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.75

In Defense of Witches is a spectacular book. Truly spellbinding. So much information crammed in but it’s all very digestible. Never once did it feel like I was being talked down or lectured to. 

I highly suggest this book for anyone who might consider themselves a feminist or even just anyone who knows someone who identifies as a woman. (Which is nearly everyone!) 

Very great read, definitely worth the time. I highly suggest the audiobook as well!! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Rape, and Torture

Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Dysphoria

ka_ke's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Blood, and Abandonment

milliecybu's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.25

Disappointing in the end but the first half was gooddddd but then got super repetitive 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, and Sexual violence

Minor: Death, Sexual assault, Islamophobia, Abortion, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

florecita_lectora's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective slow-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, and Gaslighting

Minor: Excrement

_annika__'s review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

 In Defence of Witches looked at the reasons women were charged with witchcraft in centuries past, and explored how those very same issues - beauty, age, childlessness, independence, sexuality- are used to judge and attack women today. The author made academic studies accessible to a general audience. Thought provoking and infuriating. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual violence, and Violence

moraina's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

3.5

This book’s subject matter is great - a history of witch trials, and how they shaped our society’s view of women. Chollet tackles many feminist issues, including motherhood, relationships, aging and dying, healthcare biases, etc. She makes points that I hadn’t thought about before and uses relevant examples, especially in the medical section.

That being said, this book was an absolute slough to get through. With many references to magazines, movies, and books that I’d rarely heard of, I struggled to understand the illustrated point for much of the book. This book is also translated from French, so many of these references are probably quite relevant to French culture, but totally lost on an American reader. She did reference many American movies and authors as well, but many were from the 1980s or earlier, so again lost on a 25-year-old reader that doesn’t have an academic background on this subject.

Additionally, I did take issue with huge parts of the book being quotes from other works. My lack of understanding the references aside, I wanted to hear more of the author’s viewpoints or summaries of these works, rather than read paragraphs of quotations. It just felt like it really slowed the book down, and made it difficult to follow the structure and connections she was making between sections. I also agree with other reviews saying that there definitely is not a ton of information to learn about witch trials themselves, it’s more about why the witches of the past were treated the way they were, and how that has persisted in modern society.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Body shaming, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Colonisation, and Classism

Trigger warnings aren’t necessarily graphic descriptions in this book, but are talked about in the context of and comparing to feminist issues and historical events.

morebedsidebooks's review against another edition

slow-paced

1.0

Sorcières : La puissance invaincue des femmes by Mona Chollet attracted attention and sales in France when it was originally published in 2018. Now as In Defense of Witches: The Legacy of the Witch Hunts and Why Women Are Still on Trial translated to English by Sophie R. Lewis in 2022. Countless pages later, almost 8 hours, (x2)— I ran into toil and trouble. A longer review on my blog. Thoughts, questioning some specific parts for accuracy, clarity, comparing a little with the French edition too. Unfortunately, it came out when I had other priorities, so languished on my TBR.  Bref, ignorez les best-sellers, ne vous forcez pas! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, Medical trauma, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Abortion, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Pedophilia, Racism, Antisemitism, and Lesbophobia

Discussion also includes ageism and age gaps along with instances of offensive language.