Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'
Hag: Forgotten Folktales Retold by Imogen Hermes Gowar, Naomi Booth, Emma Glass, Irenosen Okojie, Daisy Johnson, Natasha Carthew, Eimear McBride, Liv Little, Mahsuda Snaith, Kirsty Logan
16 reviews
ell_n's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Miscarriage
Minor: Gun violence
erinbarton's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, and Homophobia
j_squaredd's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, and Alcohol
Moderate: Pregnancy, Homophobia, Racism, Terminal illness, and Addiction
Minor: Sexual violence
savvylit's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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? N/A
5.0
Boggarts, fairies, selkies, pixies, shapeshifters, unsettling siblings.... Each of these fairytale motifs combine into the flawless piece of art that is Hag. The stories are lush, magical, creepy, and succinct. The all-female cast of protagonists is both loveable and believable -- despite their magical circumstances.
Prior to reading Hag, I had only been familiar with the work of one of the authors, Daisy Johnson. After falling in love with the rest, I immediately added all of the authors' works to my list of books to be read. The authors of Hag are wildly talented. If I found just one of their short stories impactful, then I can't imagine how much I'll enjoy the rest of their work.
I'd wholeheartedly recommend this collection if, like me, you're a fan of gothic tales that ooze magical realism and include feminist themes and multidimensional queer characters.
Prior to reading Hag, I had only been familiar with the work of one of the authors, Daisy Johnson. After falling in love with the rest, I immediately added all of the authors' works to my list of books to be read. The authors of Hag are wildly talented. If I found just one of their short stories impactful, then I can't imagine how much I'll enjoy the rest of their work.
I'd wholeheartedly recommend this collection if, like me, you're a fan of gothic tales that ooze magical realism and include feminist themes and multidimensional queer characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Death, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Violence, and Toxic relationship
nicnevin's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
A wonderful collection of reimagined folk tales I had never heard of before.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia
lucyhcurtis's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage and Violence
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Domestic abuse
danidamico's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Hag: Forgotten Folktales Retold es el primer libro que me compré con mi propio dinero, después de recibir mi primer sueldo. Lo vi recomendado en una cuenta de bookstagram y supe inmediatamente que necesitaba leerlo: escritoras mujeres, reversiones modernas de leyendas, la región de Inglaterra, Escocia e Irlanda... algunas de mis cosas favoritas. Y no me equivoqué, esta antología me encantó.
El libro está compuesto por diez relatos escritos por diez escritoras británicas e irlandesas que reversionan y reinterpretan leyendas antiguas de la región. Boggarts, duendes, fantasmas y criaturas mágicas aparecen de distintas formas en esta colección. Cada escritora tiene su propio estilo y se nota la diversidad de voces en los cuentos, hay algo para todos los gustos.
Personalmente, de los diez relatos solo me disgustaron tres (The Sisters, The Tale of Kathleen y The Droll of the Mermaid), lo cual está muy bien para una antología. El resto me gustó muchísimo, aunque mis preferidos son:
The Holloway de Imogen Hermes Gowar
Sour Hall de Naomi Booth
Between Sea and Sky de Kirsty Logan
The Dampness is Spreading de Emma Glass
A Retelling de Daisy Johnson
Esos cinco relatos en particular me fascinaron, ya sea por motivos estéticos y técnicos, por la historia que cuentan, por las descripciones de la naturaleza o por la carga emotiva. Cada uno de estos relatos tiene algo que logró cautivarme como lectora y producir algo en mí. Estoy segura que volveré a leerlos.
El libro está compuesto por diez relatos escritos por diez escritoras británicas e irlandesas que reversionan y reinterpretan leyendas antiguas de la región. Boggarts, duendes, fantasmas y criaturas mágicas aparecen de distintas formas en esta colección. Cada escritora tiene su propio estilo y se nota la diversidad de voces en los cuentos, hay algo para todos los gustos.
Personalmente, de los diez relatos solo me disgustaron tres (The Sisters, The Tale of Kathleen y The Droll of the Mermaid), lo cual está muy bien para una antología. El resto me gustó muchísimo, aunque mis preferidos son:
The Holloway de Imogen Hermes Gowar
Sour Hall de Naomi Booth
Between Sea and Sky de Kirsty Logan
The Dampness is Spreading de Emma Glass
A Retelling de Daisy Johnson
Esos cinco relatos en particular me fascinaron, ya sea por motivos estéticos y técnicos, por la historia que cuentan, por las descripciones de la naturaleza o por la carga emotiva. Cada uno de estos relatos tiene algo que logró cautivarme como lectora y producir algo en mí. Estoy segura que volveré a leerlos.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Religious bigotry, and Racism
victoriajacobi's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse
Minor: Animal cruelty
annick's review
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
A book of short stories written by contemporary female writers, based on a selection of English-language folktales.
I only recommend reading :
The Holloway
The Tale of Kathleen
The Panther’s Tale
I found the rest were tedious and uninteresting.
I only recommend reading :
The Holloway
The Tale of Kathleen
The Panther’s Tale
I found the rest were tedious and uninteresting.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Miscarriage, and Murder
syllareads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-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? It's complicated
4.0
This anthology is a wild mix of different Folktales from the British Isles brought back to life by 10 talented authors from all around the Isles. These retellings focus both on the magical aspects of the folktales but manage to quietly plant some modern approaches to feminism as well, giving these ideas ways to grow within ancient settings - it was quite magical to witness.
I can't clearly say that I have a favourite, as all of these tales were beautiful in their own ways, but two I particularly enjoyed were The Panther's Tale, where a lost and bewitched Princess is brought over to the Isles, ripped from her homeland and imbued with a curse that turns her into a large panther, and meets a miller's wife and her daughter - and Between Sea and Sky, a rather different take on selkie legends, where a young woman bears a selkie man a child thus born between sea (the selkie man) and sky (her name is Skye).
All of these tales had a fascinating way with words, imbueing old legends with queer, free and beautifully fierce women intend on telling their stories, if nothing else, and I am very glad I read it. I did not know about most of these tales beforehand, either, and I'm doubly glad the book includes the old legends which these authors took to make them their own, so I could look them up afterward and trace what inspired them through the original lines.
I highly recommend these short stories to anyone who feels like the magical, whimsical and horrifying world of fairytales and folktales is preferrable to our own; though be warned: a lot of these stories deal with the real world as well, just perhaps through the lense of something older walking the earth.
I can't clearly say that I have a favourite, as all of these tales were beautiful in their own ways, but two I particularly enjoyed were The Panther's Tale, where a lost and bewitched Princess is brought over to the Isles, ripped from her homeland and imbued with a curse that turns her into a large panther, and meets a miller's wife and her daughter - and Between Sea and Sky, a rather different take on selkie legends, where a young woman bears a selkie man a child thus born between sea (the selkie man) and sky (her name is Skye).
All of these tales had a fascinating way with words, imbueing old legends with queer, free and beautifully fierce women intend on telling their stories, if nothing else, and I am very glad I read it. I did not know about most of these tales beforehand, either, and I'm doubly glad the book includes the old legends which these authors took to make them their own, so I could look them up afterward and trace what inspired them through the original lines.
I highly recommend these short stories to anyone who feels like the magical, whimsical and horrifying world of fairytales and folktales is preferrable to our own; though be warned: a lot of these stories deal with the real world as well, just perhaps through the lense of something older walking the earth.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Cancer, and Grief