Reviews tagging 'Abortion'

A Secret History of Witches by Louisa Morgan

15 reviews

neuroff's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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? Yes

3.0

I picked this up at a book exchange after reading Circe. I didn’t quite know what to expect, but I wanted magic. 

And oh, how it delivered! No men turned to pigs, no gods descended from the heavens. Instead, it was …

It’s as if you, the reader, are the craft being passed down through the five generations, following the daughters of witches as they journey across Europe, hunted. 

But the beautiful crescendo that was the last several chapters 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Abortion

jnicoleq's review

adventurous emotional hopeful fast-paced

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

3.0

I really liked the first half of this book, but it felt a little lazy towards the middle/end. The book follows five generations of witches. The first two generations received a lot more attention and character development than the latter three. I became invested in the way generations one and two differed in their upbringings, desire to practice the craft, and ideas of family/community. 
From generation three onwards, the storyline became repetitive and formulaic. We meet the main character at 16, they discover their power, they use their power to achieve whatever it is that they want, and they eventually face the consequences of their actions. I would have rather read just two or three generations’ stories if it meant that they would be higher quality. 
Something else that bugged me was the fact that none of these women, in five generations, strayed even a little bit from the white, heterosexual, cisgender female prototype. In five generations, none of these women had a sapphic (or just romantically complicated) relationship with another woman? Or a person of color? None of them struggled with their identity as a woman? When it comes to romance, this book definitely suffers from Cinderella syndrome. 
Overall, I appreciate the general aesthetic and concept of the book. I like the fact that it centers around women, and that it deals heavily with complicated mother/daughter relationships. The magic is cool, the history is cool, and the writing is very easy to get into. Someone else mentioned that the author has a good “flow” and I totally agree with that. Worth picking it up if you don’t mind the drawbacks!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Violence, Religious bigotry, Abortion, and Pregnancy

goblintrash's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Abortion

dreadspawn's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Animal death, Misogyny, Sexism, and Abortion

blueyogi's review

reflective relaxing tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, War, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Infertility, Infidelity, Antisemitism, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, and Abandonment

noble_xoxo's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

5.0

A story about womanhood, sisterhood, adversity through tough times, and a little bit of magic along the way. Reads fairly quickly. Some characters more memorable than others but all around a beautiful lineage story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity

Moderate: Infertility and Abortion

Minor: Genocide, War, and Classism

TW: WW2 as a backdrop to final chapters. Could be upsetting to some readers.

hannahduda's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Death, Genocide, Infertility, Misogyny, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and War

agirlsnightbookbash's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Not what I expected

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and War

luna_staci's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Violence, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and War

mburnsides's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

 

I’m indecisive on how to rate this book. On one hand  I believe it's well written and has developed characters and storylines, but on the other hand it's just so slow and so long and every new section follows the same general outline. With a variety of storylines and individual sections focusing on one main character, it's hard to dislike the entire book, as each section is like its own small book.

Nanette   ★★★☆☆

This first section establishes the general outline for each following section- a girl comes of age, learns about her family’s history of witchcraft, has a baby out of wedlock, and her story ends, each in a unique way- Nanette having knowledge of witchcraft from the beginning. Her story is short and sweet, albeit sad.

Ursule   ★★★★☆

Ursule was one of my favorite characters. Her initial rejection of witchcraft was unique to her character, and her relationships were more interesting to read. I liked the plot of her section as well as the fast and dramatic ending.

Irene   ★★☆☆☆

The most irritating of the main women. Irene is unlikable from the very first page of her section. Luckily, her part of the story is fairly short. Her horrible treatment towards her mother, daughter, and lover gets her in the end. She’s the only main character that is written as a villain in her own story.

Morwen   ★★★☆☆

This section is fairly forgettable alongside Nanette. Morwen doesn’t do much but ride her horse and fight against her mother’s wishes. She’s the only woman to not have a second lover or get pregnant outside of her marriage.

Veronica    ★★★★☆

My favorite of the sections, Morgan actually gives the time to build a connection with the character. Although I found the incorporation of Queen Elizabeth as a witch to be strange, it was such a small aspect to Veronica’s story that it's forgettable. This section has the most male characters and the most deaths of minor characters (alongside Ursule), but has a genuine romantic relationship between the main woman and her lover. I did not care about Phillip or Thomas, and found Valery to be a very likable character. Their relationship was the most romantic, in my opinion, which made the section a much easier read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Sexism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and War

Minor: Animal cruelty and Rape