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crondeau_yvr's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Ugh… I managed to finish it but just barely. The story was interesting enough but so slow and tedious.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Physical abuse, Confinement, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, and Religious bigotry
dowryofbooks's review against another edition
2.0
2/5 stars
In Extasia we follow a deeply brainwashed main character who was raised in a cultish village. She considers herself a goodly, godly girl even though she can see the white-eyed creatures and ghosts that her mother was persecuted for seeing. All her life she's wanted to become one of the four saints of Haven. She believes once she's anointed, the gruesome and unexplainable deaths in her village will stop. However, on her anointing day she receives a note telling her to RUN. And she's told that becoming a saint isn't at all what she thinks it will be.
The premise of this book sucked me in and let me down. You say sapphic witches and I have to read it. I will say I loved the horror elements of this book. Legrand's descriptions paired with the ominous disturbing tone are truly horrifying.
The themes in this book are really strong- this discusses religious trauma and coming to terms with your sexuality when you're told it's wrong. Legrand also not only discusses abusers, but provokes the question of how should you feel towards the people who just stand by and let the abuse happen. Lots of conversation topics in here.
The abuse in this book is disturbing and it does add another layer of horror, especially if you've known someone who uses religion to justify/excuse their mental or physical abuse.
Other than that I found myself really bored. I was having to force myself to read this book instead of wanting to pick it up. There are good twists and exciting moments sprinkled throughout, but between each exciting moment felt like a slog.
I also really feel like this book could have benefitted from two or more POV's because the other characters felt so one dimensional. The female characters especially felt reduced to having their sole personality trait be their name. Some of the names in this book for example are: Silence, Malice, Hunger, Rage, Mercy etc etc. This led to me not caring about these characters or the romance. The girls barely had two scenes together before they were kissing and the love interest was so underdeveloped.
Wherever you are,
whatever you fight,
may your eyes see much,
may your rage burn bright.
In Extasia we follow a deeply brainwashed main character who was raised in a cultish village. She considers herself a goodly, godly girl even though she can see the white-eyed creatures and ghosts that her mother was persecuted for seeing. All her life she's wanted to become one of the four saints of Haven. She believes once she's anointed, the gruesome and unexplainable deaths in her village will stop. However, on her anointing day she receives a note telling her to RUN. And she's told that becoming a saint isn't at all what she thinks it will be.
The premise of this book sucked me in and let me down. You say sapphic witches and I have to read it. I will say I loved the horror elements of this book. Legrand's descriptions paired with the ominous disturbing tone are truly horrifying.
The themes in this book are really strong- this discusses religious trauma and coming to terms with your sexuality when you're told it's wrong. Legrand also not only discusses abusers, but provokes the question of how should you feel towards the people who just stand by and let the abuse happen. Lots of conversation topics in here.
The abuse in this book is disturbing and it does add another layer of horror, especially if you've known someone who uses religion to justify/excuse their mental or physical abuse.
Other than that I found myself really bored. I was having to force myself to read this book instead of wanting to pick it up. There are good twists and exciting moments sprinkled throughout, but between each exciting moment felt like a slog.
I also really feel like this book could have benefitted from two or more POV's because the other characters felt so one dimensional. The female characters especially felt reduced to having their sole personality trait be their name. Some of the names in this book for example are: Silence, Malice, Hunger, Rage, Mercy etc etc. This led to me not caring about these characters or the romance. The girls barely had two scenes together before they were kissing and the love interest was so underdeveloped.
missarnold's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
laurolly's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars. This book was a bit out of my comfort zone, I don’t tent to go for anything horror. It showed me that I do enjoy a bit of spooky tone in a book, especially as the idea of religious indoctrination was explored. Unfortunately, there was a lot that I did not like about the book. I found the magic system confusing, the relationships were forced and unexplored, and I didn’t like how the dystopian aspect was woven in as I felt it detracted from what had been previously explored.
victoria_2002's review against another edition
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
5.0
Wow this book ticked so many boxes for me! I loved the dystopian feel, it reminded me of the hand maids tale. I loved how it was a mix of both horror and fantasy. It managed to be disturbing and gory whilst also beautifully and lyrically written. I loved how witchy it was, the lesbian representation made me so happy too! There was also a non binary character! Overall this was a great book and I will definitely be reading more by this author!
redwing's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexism, Misogyny, Blood, Murder, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment
annettebooksofhopeanddreams's review against another edition
5.0
The one thing I love most about walking through a bookstore, apart from being surrounded by the smell of books of course, is discovering books I had never heard about. During the latest shopping trip with my mother I discovered this book on a table in Antwerp. I was intrigued by the cover and I didn't even really bother to complete reading the blurb. I was pretty damn sure this was gonna be a book for me. It turns out I was right.
I was sold from the very first chapter and that's partly because of the writing style. Although the book is not hard to read, on the contrary actually, every word and sentence seems to set the atmosphere. I could feel every word and sentence. I knew those words and sentences were written down like this for a reason. At times the book almost read like one big spell where the way the words were woven together helped me to get entranced by the story.
But it wasn't just the writing style keeping me hooked. It was also the intriguing plot and the world building. We discover quite soon that this is a dystopia and that a few men have used the end of the world to found a new city where they blame the end of the world completely on women. And despite the fact that we all know that what they do is wrong I could easily believe why the girls and women in the village believed every word they were told and obeyed every command they were given.
I also really loved the mythology behind the Extasia and the way our heroine of the story learns to use it. I don't wanna give away too much of course, since books like this are better experienced when knowing as little as possible about it, but despite the fact that the explanation does still feel a little vague in the end it also in a way feels very satisfying. Just like our heroine's journey might not end like everyone would want but does end in a very satisfying way.
I will certainly check out other books by this author!
I was sold from the very first chapter and that's partly because of the writing style. Although the book is not hard to read, on the contrary actually, every word and sentence seems to set the atmosphere. I could feel every word and sentence. I knew those words and sentences were written down like this for a reason. At times the book almost read like one big spell where the way the words were woven together helped me to get entranced by the story.
But it wasn't just the writing style keeping me hooked. It was also the intriguing plot and the world building. We discover quite soon that this is a dystopia and that a few men have used the end of the world to found a new city where they blame the end of the world completely on women. And despite the fact that we all know that what they do is wrong I could easily believe why the girls and women in the village believed every word they were told and obeyed every command they were given.
I also really loved the mythology behind the Extasia and the way our heroine of the story learns to use it. I don't wanna give away too much of course, since books like this are better experienced when knowing as little as possible about it, but despite the fact that the explanation does still feel a little vague in the end it also in a way feels very satisfying. Just like our heroine's journey might not end like everyone would want but does end in a very satisfying way.
I will certainly check out other books by this author!