Reviews tagging 'War'

The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman

6 reviews

rspades's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Infertility, War, Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Suicide, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexism, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Rape, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Death, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Grief, Hate crime, Incest, Misogyny, Murder, and Infidelity

stellarstar's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Rich in symbolism and Jewish history. Beautifully crafted. Having visited Masada myself many years ago, The Dovekeepers made it even more real for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Death of parent, War, Violence, Antisemitism, Blood, Colonisation, and Grief

Moderate: Child death, Genocide, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Self harm

Minor: Slavery

betag1013's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Genocide, Grief, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Slavery, War, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Violence, Self harm, and Death of parent

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Abandonment, Pregnancy, Animal death, Confinement, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and War

laindarko2's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Grief, Pregnancy, War, Genocide, Self harm, Child death, Death, Animal death, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault, Death of parent, Sexism, Misogyny, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Slavery, and Sexual violence

Minor: Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Chronic illness, and Confinement

emwoodley's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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

 "Perhaps it is possible to discover more in silence than in speech. Or perhaps it is only that those who are silent among us learn to listen."

This book was slow to start for me but as soon as soon as Yael was thrown into the desert I was immediately hooked. This book follows the lives of four women, Yael, Revka, Aziza and Shirah and how they are intertwined in this amazing historical fiction. It has elements of magical realism which I enjoy but that stay true to the essence of the people of the time and their beliefs and culture and it gripped me from start to finish. I am not a religious person by any means, but that does not stop me from enjoying a book that is heavily routed in spirituality.

Everything about these women is captivating and I implore you to give this book a try. The reason I gave this book 4 stars versus 5 is because I really did feel like everyone else's story after Yael was a bit rushed and I really wished I had more of each. I did not get as emotionally invested in Revka as I wished I had and my favorite character, Aziza, I felt could have had even more to her storyline, but I do understand at the end why this wasn't necessarily the case.

Please read this book! You will not regret it! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Genocide, Death, Slavery, Murder, Self harm, and Rape

kirani's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Gorgeous but heartbreaking. Definitely check trigger warnings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Death, Kidnapping, Antisemitism, and Self harm

Moderate: Infidelity, Suicide, and Pregnancy

Minor: Sexual content

The pregnancy also includes moderate descriptions of childbirth