Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid

45 reviews

abibea's review against another edition

adventurous medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child abuse, Blood, Antisemitism, Violence, Genocide, and Self harm

chrispybacon's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.5

The book had a strong premise but poor execution. I was excited to have a heroine in her mid-twenties but Evike is so dumb I could not relate to her at all. None of her relationships are healthy - the Yehuli want her to convert (they also help her but they are very interested in her joining them), her love interest is a coward and also her jailer, her whole village physically and verbally abused her. Her life was shit and I would have left all of them in the dirt. It makes zero sense to return to her abusers. 
The plot is a lot of walking, being horny, being angry, being horny, plans backfiring, suffering deadly injuries but surviving them, more being horny and more walking. Somewhere in there were aspects of accepting yourself, growing into your powers (and loosing them), and conflicts about religions and cultures clashing which suffered greatly under all the rest. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Death of parent, Abandonment, Antisemitism, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Blood, Gore, Grief, Toxic relationship, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexism, Sexual content, and Torture

ericageorge91's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

If you told me that this book came from lost pages of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, I would believe you. From beginning to end, The Wolf and the Woodsman felt like a dark fairy tale told around a campfire. 

Ava Reid wove a brilliant story full of Hungarian history and Jewish mythology. The writing is stunning. The story was magical and atmospheric. As for the characters, you can’t help but root for Évike and Gáspár’s heroes’ journey as well as their love story. The last time I read an enemies-to-lovers handled this well was in Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse. Let me tell you, there were parts of this book that had me giggling and SCREAMING!  I won’t spoil those parts because I need readers to discover them organically 😌

Keep in mind that this isn’t romantasy. The quest is very much the forefront of this story and the romance is slowly roasting in the background, which is, personally, how I prefer my romance. I highly recommend this book. Shoutout to the audiobook narrator Saskia Maarleveld. Her talent really enhanced the storybook feel 🤗

TW:
(Graphic) Blood, body horror, death, gore, injury/injury detail, murder, religious bigotry, self-harm, violence

(Moderate) Animal death, antisemitism, bullying, grief, physical abuse, sexual content, trafficking, xenophobia 

(Minor) Animal cruelty, child abuse, death of a parent, torture, vomit 

Rep: Hungarian history, Jewish side characters, sapphic side characters

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Death, Blood, Body horror, Murder, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Gore

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Grief, Physical abuse, Trafficking, Sexual content, Antisemitism, and Xenophobia

Minor: Death of parent, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Torture, and Vomit

breadwitchery's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Violence, Self harm, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Religious bigotry, Antisemitism, Sexual content, and Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse and Ableism

bedtimesandbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Xenophobia, Genocide, Animal cruelty, Body horror, and War

Moderate: Child death

e_gracereads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

5.0

I DEVOURED this book. It is a BEAUTIFUL fantasy set in a very vivid, gorgeous world based on medieval Hungary. I love our main characters, Evike and Gaspar, despite the fact they both have very evident negative traits (very refreshing in a book!) and I felt truly seen by them both. The conflict of not only two religions but two entirely different ways of life is portrayed beautifully here, and there is so much thought provoking imagery, as well as beautiful storytelling that is utterly central to the plot and emphasizes the importance of storytelling and myth in our lives and culture. God. I could go on and on. I loved this book and I will be reading more from her. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Xenophobia, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, and Death

katievallin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Xenophobia, War, Vomit, Blood, Child abuse, Genocide, Death, Racism, Religious bigotry, Torture, Grief, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, Gore, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Murder, Violence, Animal death, Antisemitism, and Bullying

Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Sexual content

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Body shaming, and Alcohol

anastasiadreaming's review

challenging dark tense 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? It's complicated

2.0

I really wanted to love this one, and unfortunately it didn’t work out. I’m granting one star for the atmosphere, and another for Gáspár, but I’m stripping three for how nonsensical Évike’s decision-making was. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Self harm, and Lesbophobia

simone_elizabeth's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.0

The thing I enjoyed most about this book was how it challenged our cultures view of historical eastern Europe and put marginalized cultures in the spotlight. I loved reading about Reid’s perspective on fiction as an academic and a Jewish person. The writing had some confusing imagery and the characters often repeated themselves, but those are minor gripes, especially for a debut. Also the gore in this book is hard core! (Which honestly… slay)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Animal death, Blood, Xenophobia, Body horror, Death, Gore, Murder, Racism, War, Antisemitism, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Sexual content

lindseyhall44's review against another edition

dark 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

3.5

Review is withheld in solidarity of Harper Collins’s workers/union on strike.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Gore, Religious bigotry, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Death, Grief, Self harm, Violence, Torture, and War