Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Sawkill Girls, by Claire Legrand

9 reviews

emmaward55's review against another edition

dark sad tense

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

4.75

This book is perfect for anyone who loves the Charmed TV series and thought it could be scarier.

When I was on chapter four, my working theory was that the missing girls were being turned into horses by Val and her mum: But oh, it's so much darker than that. I love a good horror film, yet I found myself more creeped out in reading this book than I expected to be. Legrand's writing is evocative, tense, and atmospheric, without getting too bogged down in description. There's plenty of action and moments of good character growth throughout.

I read this book in two days, mostly in three long chunks, as I couldn't drag myself away to focus on anything else! I loved the complex relationships of our three protagonists and their characterisations have to be a highlight for me. Can't lie though, I’m sad that we didn’t get a reunion scene at the end between Marion and her mum. Considering that this is a book about female relationships, it feels weird to not include one of the protagonists interacting with the last present female parent of the trio. 

That being said, the above was my only real complaint. I'd certainly read this book again and I recommend it for anyone with a strong stomach!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Child abuse, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Blood, Self harm, Child death, Violence, Torture, Animal death, Gore, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, and Sexual content

Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia, Vomit, Medical content, Misogyny, Alcohol, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Miscarriage

Child death and kidnapping:

Spoiler

All are around 17

Self harm:

Spoiler

The only instance I remember is a character burning something off their skin, but it's done to save themselves and others

Drug abuse and suicidal thoughts:

Spoiler

A secondary character isn't trusted with their prescription medication, as a loved one suspects they might intentionally overdose. Nothing actually happens and it's just a brief mention.

_justagremlinwithglasses_'s review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Acephobia/Arophobia, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Rape and Misogyny

vaguely_pink's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Violence, and Acephobia/Arophobia

Moderate: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Sexual content, Cursing, Biphobia, Bullying, Blood, and Body horror

Minor: Gun violence, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

sameehaha's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? No

4.0

This was addicting to read. I wish I had more thoughts to share but that's really all. I spent most of my free time reading this so I think that's a good enough review.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, Child death, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Sexual content, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Cursing, Confinement, Bullying, and Animal death

Minor: Sexual violence and Acephobia/Arophobia

rgreyreads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

3.5

I enjoyed the writing immensely, it was creepy and immersive. I really enjoyed that each character was flawed in their own way and that none of them had a perfect relationship with their parents.

The mystery and the villain were super intriguing and I loved the symbolisms for feminism and the cruelty of man, though sometimes it seemed pretty heavy handed. I also liked that it had a Sapphic relationship, though I couldn't really enjoy it because of the context of the one character and her actions toward the other. Also, one of the main characters is ace and I really appreciated that since that orientation is very overlooked.

Now onto spoilers and why its not a four star read for me:

Spoiler

A big important plot point wasn't mentioned or revealed until act 3 which I find kind of weird. I also felt like the overt amount of feminism was unneeded. The second group of antagonists were all these horrible misogynists that didn't show up until act 3. It just felt really heavy-handed and really late in the story to introduce them. Just the likelihood of every one of those guys having the fact they hate women be the reason they do things the way they do them is unreal. Some of them had to want to do it because they wanted to live, or because they had a hero complex and it was for the "greater good" or something. Why were all of their motivations the same? Because it was convenient I would guess. The ending with that conflict felt rushed to me.

I did like the end and how Marian had grown so much that she was willing to die for them and for all the other girls. That was a great moment and I would say out of the three she was my favorite.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Violence, Grief, Sexism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Vomit, Animal death, Gore, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Sexual assault

bookswhitme's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Acephobia/Arophobia, Blood, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, and Vomit

themixedpages's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Body horror, Misogyny, Death, Blood, Kidnapping, and Grief

Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Car accident

marieketron's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

A pretty average read compared to weird (monster) mysteries I read last year. The inclusion and diversity elements were really strong, to the point of occasionally feeling like the reader is being mildly lectured, but I appreciated the message that just because someone regrets and repents for their actions doesn't mean you're obliged to forgive them. The monster elements felt relatively tame, and I felt like the plot could have been a lot shorter, but overall a fine read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Animal death, Death, Child death, Gore, Body horror, Blood, Vomit, Sexual violence, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Rape, Bullying, Confinement, Grief, Gun violence, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

Minor: Cursing

unknownhorrors's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

this is a fun, twisty horror story with a powerful narrative of loss, solidarity, and reclamation of both self and power by those who have been robbed of both.

the characters are each memorable and ridiculously easy to love. their relationships, whether they be platonic or romantic, are all meaningful and dynamic in their own ways. this is not a romance, but the romantic elements are beautifully told. the plot is structured well - once it catches you in its grasp, it never lets you go. it has a good balance of sudden scares, slowly creeping dread, and quieter, softer moments, which i find vital to any horror story. and legrand's evocative, poetic style really brought this book from 'good' to 'amazing'.

i only have two criticisms. one - the sections from

Spoiler

the rock's

point of view are largely unnecessary and actually take away a little of the mystery. i really would have preferred to unfold the mystery along with the girls and had things explained at the climax, instead of being fed hints all along by an omniscient narrator. second, the misogynistic dialogue from certain characters was way too heavy-handed. it took focus off of the main characters' internal struggles and threw the scene off in a way that didn't feel natural to it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Self harm, Child abuse, Grief, Body horror, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Torture

Moderate: Pedophilia and Rape

Explicit, graphic depiction of cults, grooming, and aphobia.