Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand

34 reviews

nrogers_1030's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5


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kaiiyo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-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

4.75

Beautiful story beautifully told
Claire Legrand has an incredible talent with words and her descriptions of emotions have genuinely given me some new language to describe feelings I didn't previously have words for
Equal parts sickeningly horrifying and achingly sweet
A celebration of the will of girls and the things they are capable of
This one will be sticking with me for a long time 

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mostlyvoidpartiallystars's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

An incredible exploration of grief, of the costs of power, and how love changes us. 

The horror was very well built up, making it one of the more terrifying horror novels I've read. 

The only reason it's not a full 5.0 is
I don't feel like the cult was built out well. I like her dad's role in it, and his being forced to choose between it and his daughter, but the rest of the cultists almost felt cartoonishly evil in a way that didn't click for me. I needed a little more for it to land. They're a great complication, but their characterization leaves something to be desired.


Is this story a "Bury Your Gays" trope?
Not at all

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allisonsmith120's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

4.5


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beccaand's review

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dark mysterious 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

4.25


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eviethebookworm's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense fast-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? It's complicated

3.75


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lauralintunen's review against another edition

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dark inspiring mysterious 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

4.5


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mary_stormageddon's review against another edition

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

3.0

Started off strong, got a bit weird, then it wasn't as great. 

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maple_dove's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging 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

4.0

Sawkill Girls is a feminist story similar by Stranger Things about three queer girls vs. a a scary monster.

Before reading this book, I read Extasia. The feminist and queer themes are definitely present in Sawkill Girls too. I liked this book throughout, but my favorite parts are after the halfway mark.

The asexual alloromantic and exes-to-friends representation was GREATTT!

However, there is one qualm I have about this book.

He had insisted on cleaning up the kitchen before turning in, otherwise the crusty layers of casserole on their late-night dinner plates would fester and haunt him, snickering in the kitchen while he lay awake staring at the ceiling.
The adorable little freak.

. . .

From what I know, the word freak is a pretty triggering word for the disabled community, because it implies that they are things to be feared.

⭐️ Favorite Quotes: 

"Can I once again apologize on behalf of men everywhere?" Grayson offered. "Because we can really fucking suck sometimes."
Zoey arched an eyebrow. "Sometimes?"
"Most of the time."
"There it is."

Marion couldn't imagine a God like the one she'd grown up hearing about--some man sitting in the clouds, maneuvering the pieces of the world to suit his whims because he, of course, knows best.
But she could imagine a God in the shape of an island crowned with trees, brooding in the middle of a black sea.

"I don't know what will happen to us once we get to the obscura. The book says he can't be killed--"
"Screw that book," said Val. "It was written by men." She held out her free hand to Marion. "We're rewriting it." (pg. 385-386)

Marion stood at the port side railing, her back to everyone and her black hair streaming out behind her--a dark queen, surveying the battlefield.

"What's wrong with you?" Zoey had never heard Valerie Mortimer's voice sound so unfinished. "None of this is necessary--"
"I will decide what is necessary!" howled Briggs, his grip tightening painfully around Zoey's arm. "This is the way it is done. This is the way our fathers taught us."
"Your fathers,"  Val replied, "were full of shit." (pg. 398)

"The Collector must feed. He must be banished from our world. So it has been done, and so it is done, and so it shall always be done."
"And so it shall always be done," repeated the men, reminding Zoey of the way Borg drones proclaimed they were going to assimilate you, that resistance was futile, that you were screwed and there was no way out, sorry about that.
[...]
But then Marion spoke.
"And so," she said, her voice low and serene, "it shall never done again." (pg. 398-399)

"It's not our job to save the world. It can't be. That's not fair."
"If it's not our job," Marion asked quietly, "whose is it?"

Hope, she thought, breathing with the tide, was a choice that only those with resolute hearts dared to make.

Stardust cares not for the agony of demons.

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frog_appreciator's review against another edition

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3.5

I love monsterous girls!! But this wasn’t quite monster girl enough for me. I  appreciated the sapphic and ace rep. Started off super invested but my interest kind of flaked off by the end of it. Here are my main issues with it,
I don’t necessarily think Val and by the collector being revealed as the baddies right away couldn’t work, the way it was written just lacked mystery and depth. Also the specific superpowers the girls had didn’t seem cohesive to me/make sense fully. And the whole
cult thing in general, didn’t fit the flow of the story. There was one line about young girls and their hunger, which if expanded upon could have made the whole thing more meaningful but on its on felt out of place. Also the horses and moths and the land in general, wish the connection to the rock was made more explicit. Just would have been a stronger read
Despite this I still read it quickly and enjoyed it for the most part. 
CW: bugs, mainly moths but one scene with lots of spiders too

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